Rise of the Zealots
by Ricardo the Black Hawk
Summary: Six months have passed since the events of Darkness Reborn. Blu and Jewel have put behind their past memories and have moved forward with their lives to live in peace. Unfortunately for them, certain people do not seem to agree with their peace. Join them in the second saga.
1. Chapter 1: six months later

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Return of the blue macaws**

 **Chapter 1: six months later**

 **Greetings everyone, Rico here. You all really thought I retired, didn't you? Nah, this website is too fun and I was born to be a FanFiction author, and I can't leave you guys who have given me so much support over these couple of years, you guys and girls are the best. Anyway, I will cut to the chase; this is the first story for my second saga that is a sequel to "The Rio the Darkness" Saga.**

 **Now I will not be changing the children's names to what they are in the movie because that would mean I would have to go back and change them all in my old stories, and that would take far too long with time that I do not have, but don't worry because I do have a plan for that in this story.**

 **I'd like to give a huge shout to Loco Vampire for creating this amazing drawing for me. Thanks dude.**

 **Apart from that, I am also engaged now and will be getting married somewhere this year. Cut to the chase, here's chapter 1 of the new saga and like I said in the past...Enjoy reading, ladies and gentlemen.**

* * *

The sun began to disappear behind the clouds as the night began to rise and take over the sky throughout all of Brazil. In the city of Rio de Janeiro, everyone was having the times of their lives as the celebrated for no reason in particular. It was just a great night to be out.

Among the city of Rio de Janeiro was the local jungle, home to all wild life animals and home to the last blue macaws on Earth. Beyond into the deeper part of the jungle, a single bird stood on a high branch as he watched the moon ascend to its limit.

The mysterious figure chuckled as flew down to the bottom of the tree he was perched on and walked in through bushes to his secret hideout underneath the tree. He marched within his hideout until he located some photos that he had hung on his way.

"Tyler Blu Gunderson." the mysterious figured chuckled while studying the photo his targets. "You spent most of your life domesticated yet you were somehow able to defeat the brotherhood, the gangsters, and even the master of darkness himself. You may have been living quiet these past few months, but now it's my turn to rise."

He chuckled a second time and picked up a box containing four other photographs. He hung them up on the wall and stood back to admire them.

The mysterious bird sat down on an armchair in his size and pressed his wings together. "I've watched you for a long time, Blu. I've studied your every tactic, your intelligence, your strength...Your weaknesses. I will finish off what your enemies couldn't. I will make you feel pain so unimaginable that you will beg and pray for the gift of a quick death. Before this week is over, I will break you, I will make you suffer. To finish off...You will die. Hehehahaha!"

* * *

In a lighter part of the jungle not too far from the city, the local wild life residents gathered around the outside of the Samba Club owned by best friends Nico and Pedro.

The club had now been moved into the jungle a second time, making it easier for wild life to come to their club to celebrate like there was no tomorrow. This way they did not have to keep making their way into the city while avoiding humans.

Everyone danced to the music in an open area outside of the club while a female scarlet macaw sang along with Nico and Pedro.

 _Ooh..._

 _What is love if it's not with you? (sente o ritmo!)_  
 _I know when you're alone, you feel it too (tá no Rio!)_  
 _In your arms is where I long to be (vem brincar com nós!)_  
 _'Cause being with you gives me sanity (welcome to Rio!)_

Amongst the many dancers in the crowd were the two blue macaw mates Blu and Jewel who danced together. Their children Rey, Azul, Crystal and Jessica were nearby dancing with the crowd, along with their friends Rafael, Eva and their eighteen children.

 _Oh...listen to me, darling_  
 _I wake up every morning thinking about the way you feel_  
 _Oh... I wonder if you know it_  
 _And what good is the party if you're not around? Listen to me now_

Blu and Jewel took turns dancing as they would occasionally let go of each other's wings, only to take them again moments later. It was wonderful night and neither of them felt like they never wanted to stop.

"This never gets old." Jewel admitted with a smile across her beak.

"I agree one-hundred percent, Jewel." Blu agreed as he took her wing again and twirled her around in cricles.

 _Listen to me now_

 _What good is love... (Is it a crazy love?)_  
 _If it's not your love...? (Is it amazing love?)_

 _What good is love...?_

Nico flew above the crowd and sang out loud as he threw his bottle-cap in the air and remained in the same position. The bottle cap fell down and landed on top of his head perfectly.

Nico:

 _Am I your baby love?_

Chorus:

 _If it's not your love...?_

Nico:

 _Is it a crazy love?_

Pedro appeared next and flew beside his best friend Nico. He began to rap as he performed his own zig-zag dancing style.

Pedro:

 _This is a crazy party_  
 _I'm so glad I'm here with everybody_  
 _Baby, move your body, shake it to the ground_  
 _Break it, break it, break it, break it, break it down, Blu!_

Blu, hearing his name being mentioned by Pedro, released Jewel's wing for a moment and began spreading his wings to the music with Jewel doing the same.

Blu:

 _What's a song if you can't hear it too? (Woo!)_

Jewel danced beside him while she spread her wings and kicked her talons off to the music.

Jewel:

 _Can't imagine dancing without you_

Blu:

 _A shooting star ain't really nothing to see_

Jewel:

 _If you're not right here standing next to me_

Jewel danced beside him and leaned forward to peck him on the side of his beak. Blu enjoyed the quick peck and continued to dance with his loved one.

 _Oh... listen to me, darling_  
 _I wake up every morning thinking 'bout the way you feel_  
 _Oh-oh... I wonder if you know it_  
 _And what good is the party if you're not around?_

 _Listen to me now_

Now the song and the rhythm was getting to the grand finale soon. The other local wild life began to form a circle around the area as they danced together simultaneously with Blu and Jewel in the center. They always were the main performers.

 _What good is love... (is it a crazy love?)_  
 _If it's not your love...? (is it amazing love?)_  
 _What good is love... (is it a crazy love?)_  
 _If it's not your love...? (is it amazing love?)_

 _Rio..._

 _Oh...Oh...Oh...Oh!_

Blu and Jewel held wings while placing their other free wing around each other's back. They looked into their eyes with smiles as they waltzed around the area with their friends cheering for them.

Nico, Pedro and their other female performer sang together for their friends. This was a great occasion to be enjoying the times of their lives. It had been great these past six months and none of the wildlife ever regretted celebrating with the samba one bit.

 _What's the song?_  
 _What's the words?_  
 _If it's not with you_  
 _If it's not with you_

 _If you can't hear it too (Oh...Oh)_  
 _I know when you're alone_  
 _You've got to feel it too_

 _Oh, yeah_

* * *

Love. The most beautiful-est thing in the world. It is something that makes you express your feelings towards your loved one, a strong emotion that holds people together. A certain pair of blue macaws certainly shared their love towards each other, never letting anything or anyone ruin their relationship. It had been six months since the events of the death of the Angelus and Nexus, and ever since then, their love had been stronger than ever.

The moment Blu and Jewel's injuries had recovered, they, their four children, and their friends had gone back to the jungle of the Rio de Janeiro where they belong. All of them had spent their entire lives living there-all except for Jewel that is, whom use to live way further from the city, deep in the amazon when she had a family. She missed them, of course, but she had her mate and her children, and as long as she had them, Jewel would live happily for the rest of her life, just like her family would have wanted.

Nighttime had arrived throughout the beautiful jungle of Rio de Janeiro, and it was time for every wildlife residents to tuck in for the night and get some rest for a beautiful day in the morning. Inside one of the many tree hollows amongst, the blue macaw lovebirds Blu and Jewel were currently putting their four children to bed. Although they put them to bed as a team, Jewel decided to finish off their little job.

She slowly sang in a relaxing, soothing voice to her children with a smile raised across her beak. She watched as Rey, Azul, and Jessica were already tucked asleep with Crystal being the only one still awake, but nevertheless, she continued singing.

 _Now it's time to say good night_  
 _Good night, sleep tight_  
 _Now the sun turns out his light_  
 _Good night, sleep tight_  
 _Dream sweet dreams for me_  
 _Dream sweet dreams for you_

Blu watched his beautiful wife as she continued singing towards her children. Her voice made his heart melt from the inside. So many things had happened to her in the past: she was captured, possessed, injured, and even killed once...But all that was over now, and he vowed not to let anything happen to her again for as long as he lived.

 _Close your eyes and I'll close mine_  
 _Good night, sleep tight_  
 _Now the moon begins to shine_  
 _Good night, sleep tight_  
 _Dream sweet dreams for me_  
 _Dream sweet dreams for you_

 _Close your eyes and I'll close mine_  
 _Good night, sleep tight_  
 _And now the sun turns out his light_  
 _Good night, sleep tight_  
 _Dream sweet dreams for me_  
 _Dream sweet dreams for you_

At the end of her song, Jewel leaned down and planted a kiss on Crystal's head softly, causing the young chick to smile. She knew Crystal would not be able to keep herself awake any longer, and silently wished her a goodnight's sleep. "Goodnight Crystal."

"Goodnight Mom, goodnight Dad." Crystal whispered, slowly closing her beautiful teal eyes and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

The moment her little girl was sound asleep, Jewel made her way towards the other side of their family nest towards her lovehawk. She moved beside him and pecked the side of his beak, and unlike the past, Blu no longer blushed at this. "I love our children so much, Blu."

"Me, too, Jewel." Blu agreed, raising a smile while placing his left wing over her. "They're beautiful. I remember when they were just little babies...I wish they didn't have to grow up. I wish they could stay like that forever."

"I know how you feel, Blu..." Jewel assured, not wanting to think into the future of what it was going to be like once her children grow up and leave the nest. She sighed for a moment, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Blu could sense her sadness in her voice, knowing how lonely she felt after losing her family, and the day their children would leave their home might bring back old memories. For now, she moved his wings around her as they prepared to tuck in for the night. "Honey, I think it's time we tuck in for the night."

Jewel nodded in agreement.

The duo carefully laid themselves down in the middle of their nest, cuddling with one and other. Jewel moved her head down near Blu's chest, and he in return, rested his head down near the top of her head.

"Goodnight, Blu." Jewel smiled, closing her eyes and cuddling herself closing towards him.

"Goodnight, Jewel." Blu whispered, planting a kiss on the top of her head before it was time for him too to tuck in for the night. He moved his wings over her a little more. Closing his eyes, he drifted off into a peaceful sleep with his beloved cuddled beside him.

* * *

 **That is our introduction to my new story, latest and gentlemen. Now I won't be updating daily like I use to, but I'll still be fairly close, maybe every 2-3 days. I hope you all enjoyed the prologue and stay tuned for chapter 2.**


	2. Chapter 2: movie night

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Return of the blue macaws**

 **Chapter 2: movie night**

 **Judging my the feedback on the first chapter, all of you seem to be excited I'm back. I greatly appreciate the reviews and hope we can keep them going. As a reward for taking the time out of your lives to read my story, here's chapter 2.**

* * *

The sun rose up to its fullest bright and early, sending a relaxing heat throughout the entire city and jungle of Rio de Janeiro. Inside the blue macaw's family's tree hollow, Blu the macaw had woken up nice and early when the sun had shone into his tree hollow, causing him to wake up. But he did not mind, and loved to be up early.

The first thing that caught his sights was his beautiful wife cuddled in his wings. She had her back cuddled into his body. She was facing the other way the night before and must have turned around during her sleep, not that it mattered anyway.

Blu raised a happy expression when seeing her sleep made him happy. He watched as she was still smiling in her sleep, breathing slowly. One of them would normally wake the other up in the morning, but since it was still quite early, Blu decided to let her sleep in.

Being as cautious as he could to not wake her up, Blu slowly moved his wings from around her and tip-toed his way over towards the hollow exit/entrance. "Might as well go and get breakfast for them." he told himself, spreading out his wings from his sides.

He did a quick check up on himself before taking flight, observing different parts of his body. "Okay, flight wings: check. Landing gear: check. And tail feathers: check...And pretty good, if I might say so. Okay, time for another morning flight."

Blu leaped out from his home, taking another flight into the beautiful jungle of Rio de Janeiro. He inhaled the fresh air while continuing his flight towards the trees where he most commonly fetched his breakfast for his family.

"Well, well, if it isn't our favorite blue bird?"

Blu was startled slightly by the familiar voice, but he calmed down in a matter of seconds. He followed the direction of the voices, and raised a smile when seeing two familiar friends inside of their home. "Oh, morning Nico, Pedro."

"Bluey boy!" Pedro greeted.

"What's up, Blu? Man, that party was wild last night!" Nico whooped, recalling the previous night's events.

"You can say that again." Blu agreed with a smile. He enjoyed every night Jewel, the kids, and himself would go out together and enjoy the time of their lives.

"We still on for movie night tonight?" Pedro inquired while casually leaning at the edge of his/Nico's home.

Movie night was when Blu, Jewel, the kids would go to Linda's every Friday at the end of every month to watch a movie. Linda, Tulio and Fernando always went out on a Friday afternoon, giving the blue macaws the bookstore to themselves.

Linda was aware of them visiting, but she did mind. Blu and his family were always welcome to her home. Occasionally, Nico and Pedro would come along too and Rafael, but that was rarely since he had a family to take care of.

"Yep, we're heading there at approximately 19:00 PM." Blu answered with a nod, but then he frowned slightly. "Guys, try not to be late this time."

"We weren't late last time." Nico argued, but he knew for a fact that he and Pedro were late.

"One hour after the deadline is late, Nico." Blu replied, shaking his head slightly.

"We'll be there on time like a...Uh." Pedro trailed off and tried to think of a word to rhyme with 'time'.

"Well, we won't keep you any longer, Blu." Nico assured him. "We'll see you there at six."

"See you later, guys." Blu bid his friends farewell and proceeded to continue his flight and find some food for his family.

Along the way to the fruit trees, Blu took the opportunity to enjoy his surrounding and think about how his life had changed now that they had no more worries about the challenges he was forced to face during his time here.

While a lot of those events haunted him, no doubt that the memories of the Darkness would haunt him the most. Because of that, he almost lost everything dear to him. His kind, his parents, and could have cost him Jewel and his children.

Looking back in the past did not matter now. Everything was perfect now and they had no need to worry anymore. Now all Blu needed to do was focus on the future.

Blu arrived at the trees and picked up some breakfast for himself and his family. After making sure they were healthy, of course. While there, a few of his neighbors flew past and greeted him kindly.

"Hey Blu."

"Morning, Blu."

"How's it going, Blu?"

"Blu!"

"Bluey!"

"Hey, good to see you." Blu replied to each wildlife species that flew past him. He made so many friends during his time here and everyone respected him as the hero who saved their home and their lives.

Now that he got breakfast, Blu proceeded to fly back home and spend the day with his family. As he departed, he was completely unaware of two figures spying on him from a nearby darkened tree hollow.

"That's him." one of them spoke up with a grin.

"Are you sure?" the second one inquired, speaking in a deep and Spanish accent. He appeared much taller than the other figure beside him.

"By my calculations and accuracy, that bird is none other than Tyler Blu Gunderson; born in Rio, raised in American, stands at 16-years-old, mate of Jewel, father of four children, and the so-called hero of this jungle." the first figured explained in a smart attitude.

The second figure looked eager to get going as soon as possible. "Why are we just waiting here? I can take him right now and kill him!"

He prepared to give chase, but the first figured placed his wing out and shook his head in disagreement.

"Not yet, my loyal friend." the first figure told him, turning himself around to face him. "For my plan...Excuse me, OUR plan to work, we need to make sure that Blu does not get in our way. If he does, then everything will be ruined and I will be very unhappy."

"Stop us?" the second figure scoffed and laughed slightly. "I do not fear the macaw, not one bit. He is nothing more than a play thing for me. I could break every one of his bones with my own strength."

"That's always been your problem: you're impatience and your ignorance is your weakness." the first figure explained as a way to tell him what could lead to his downfall if he was not careful.

The second figure looked angered by this and raised his giant wing in the air. "Are you calling me weak?! I have taken down eagles with my bear wings. If I can stop an eagle, then I'm not going to have any problems taking down a little blue macaw like him. When I'm done with him, he'll beg for the mercy of a painless death."

"Ohh, you big buffoon." the first figure sighed and placed his wing to his face in disappointed. He kept a level head and began to explain his plan in the simplest terms possible to his acquaintance. "Let me explain in words you'll understand: what is a parent's one weakness?"

The second figure seemed to already know this answer. "That's easy; they're children obviously."

"Exactly." the first figure replied. "Now do you understand what I am trying to say?"

"We take the children and he'll back off?" the second figure assumed with a curious eyebrow raised.

"Bingo." the first figure nodded and turned back towards the edge of the hollow, placing both of his wings together with a sinister grin growing across his face. "Heheheha. Hahahaha. HAHA! DEATH AND DESTRUCTION WILL FALL UPON THIS JUNGLE!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Blu had delivered food to his family who were now awake and were ready to eat to get their strength up. Blu sat beside Jewel while the two sat on a branch eating their Brazil nuts. Rey, Azul, Crystal and Jessica were playing together nearby.

Jewel finished eating her breakfast and made conversation with her lovehawk. "Are we still on for movie night tonight?"

"That's right." Blu confirmed smiling. "I talked to Nico and Pedro this morning when I was getting breakfast. They mentioned they would join us there. That's if they're not late this time."

"No argument here." Jewel agreed. She remembered having to wait with the kids for an hour until Nico and Pedro showed up. "They said they got lost. They've been in the city longer than us."

"Well, based on the intelligence of certain specious of birds, they can hold..." Blu slowly trailed off when Jewel placed her wing on top of his break.

"Shush." Jewel whispered, leaning forward to peck him on the side of his beak. "You know I think you're cute when you get all nerdy."

Blu only smiled in response and held his loved one's wing when she moved her wing away from his beak. "That's why you love me."

"Correct, and I don't ever want my lovehawk to change." Jewel admitted.

The two leaned over and shared a hug for a few seconds. Now that they were finished eating, the family of blue macaws decided to go for a little fly around the jungle for a while to pass the time quicker than maybe even go for a picnic somewhere.

* * *

Blu, Jewel and their four children enjoyed a great day together but the time had certainly slipped fast. Before they knew it, the time had turned 18:30 PM and that's when they decided to begin their trip to the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The sun was beginning to set by the time they arrived, but there was still more than enough daylight for them to see where they were going. To get inside, Blu simply flew in through an open window on the top floor of the bookstore.

"We're here!" Blu announced, landing on the couch with his wings raised in the there.

Jewel rolled her eyeballs around in response. She did not mind being here and did admit it was nice to get away from the jungle from time to time.

"I get to pick the movie!" Rey yelled, quickly zooming over towards the DVD's.

"Hey, it's my turn to pick!" Azul argued as he followed his slightly younger brother.

"Uh-uh, it's my turn!" Crystal disagreed, also following them.

Jessica, as usual, remained silent and said nothing. She did not mind what they watched as long as it was not scary. She was still quite shy around her family or anyone for that matter and only spoke when spoken to.

Blu flew down to his other three children and broke up their little squabble when they were trying to pick a movie. "Kids, settle down! There's no need to fight on who picks what movie. Besides, it's my turn anyway."

"Aww." Azul wined and crossed his wings.

"No fair." Rey complained, looking away with a saucy look.

Blu only chuckled as he picked out a movie that had not watched yet. He found in particular that caught his interest and picked up the case, reading the back of its contents. "The Lego Movie". Hmm, this sounds like a kid friends and enjoyable movie."

While everyone else settled, Blu turned on the TV and placed the disc inside the DVD player. At perfect timing, there was a knock on the window. Jewel flew up to investigate and opened the window to allow Nico and Pedro inside.

"You guys made it this time." Jewel stated the obvious, closing the window before taking a seat on the couch.

"Told you we would." Nico assured while he and Pedro held up a big candy bar they carried here. "We brought candy!"

Jewel rolled her eyes in response and prepared to watch the movie.

Blu finished setting everything up and joined his family and friends on the couch just as the time turned to 19:00 PM, perfect timing. The movie began and everyone sat in silence, aside from a few crunching sounds from Nico and Pedro eating candy.

As the movie continued, Jewel leaned her head against Blu's chest. Blu in returned, placed his wings around her as they sat at the back of the couch, enjoying one another's company.

* * *

By the time the move ended, it was now 20:40 PM and it was getting quite late for the birds. Everyone enjoyed the movie and thought it was one of the best so far. That was another watched until next month.

"Great movie, lovebirds." Nico announced as he and Pedro stood up, stretching their wings and talons.

"We better bounce." Pedro suggested, pointing towards the way they came. "We got to back to the club."

"Sure thing." Blu nodded while he released his wings from around Jewel. "We'll see you guys around."

"Goodbye." Jewel waved her friends farewell as they flew away in the night sky. She yawned and stood up before looking down to see their children had fallen asleep just as the movie finished as usual.

Blu and Jewel smiled at each other as they gently picked up their children and placed them on their backs. Blu carried Rey and Jessica while Jewel carried Azul and Crystal. Together, they flew outside of the bookstore and proceeded to fly back to their home.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 completed, ladies and gentlemen. Blu and Jewel have been enjoying their life together, but it seems that trouble is not as far away as it seems. We have two mysterious figures spying on Blu, but who they are is the bigger mystery...**


	3. Chapter 3: kidnapped

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Return of the blue macaws**

 **Chapter 3: kidnapped**

 **Hello everyone, I'm back with chapter 3 of the story. Nothing much to say in this author's note, other than enjoy the chapter and don't forget to drop that review.**

* * *

The next day during early afternoon, Blu and Jewel were spending the day outside near their home with their children outside. As the family of six were enjoying the day to themselves, they never expected the worse to happen anymore, especially after these past six months. Blu was playing a game of soccer with his family. It was the guys VS the girls and since they were three boys and three girls in their family, then this team worked out great.

Blu kicked the ball with all his might and scored a goal past Crystal, who was in goal. The goal was more of a group of vines together to serve as a net. He cheered with his sons in celebrating of their victory. "We won! We won!"

"Woo-hoo!" Rey and Azul cheered simultaneously.

"Great game, everyone." Jewel praised with a smile

Now that was something to pass the time for a while. The family was going to agree to another game in a few minutes as soon as they rested up.

Blu took a drink out of some water he brought for everyone earlier this day. "Refreshing. Nothing like a good game of sports with my family."

"It's good that we can finally spend the time together we couldn't before." Jewel agreed as she took a sip of her own water. "All the craziness we had to deal with took up a lot of our time. I'm glad it finally ended those six months ago. This is the life I wanted, Blu."

"I couldn't agree more, beautiful." Blu said smiling. He leaned over while they were flying and pecked her on the beak. "Now what do you say we-"

"DAD!" Rey screeched at the top of his lungs.

Before Blu even had the chance to blink, he was tackled out of the sky by a large powerful figure who took him all the way to the ground. As if Blu and Jewel's previous conversation was to be proven a lie, it looked like they had even more trouble to deal with. The large figured knocked down onto the ground and proceeded to pick him up in his gigantic talon.

Blu gasped as he felt his throat being crushed. He clutched his wings against the attacker's talon as he was lifted off the ground with his talons dangling. Now he finally got the chance to identify the mysterious bird attacking him. He was a scarlet macaw with the usual appearance of an average scarlet macaw but with a hairstyle spiked up slightly. To finish off, he was huge! Around the size of Kirilenko, that huge dark macaw he faced during the fight with Nexus and the dark macaws.

"LET HIM GO!" Jewel demanded as she flew down as fast as she could like a missile. She landed on the scarlet macaw's back and dug her claws deep into his back.

"Ahh!" the scarlet macaw grunted and released Blu from his grip.

Blu collapsed down onto his stomach and coughed for oxygen.

Rey, Azul and Crystal watched in fear as they merely stood nearby and hoped their parents could defeat this big macaw. Jessica, however, hid behind some large grass in fear and remained silent. She tried to call out to her brothers and sisters and tell them to hide, but due to the commotion and her low voice, they could not hear her.

The large scarlet macaw lifted his wings and grabbed onto Jewel, pulling her off of his back. He pushed her in front of him and did not hesitate to deliver a single powerful blow to her stomach. Jewel grunted and tried to cope with the pain. It served as enough of a distraction for him to kick her into a nearby tree, knocking her unconscious.

Blu, who had witnessed this just after recovering, cried out in rage and charged towards the scarlet macaw. He curled his wing into a fist and struck a direct hit to the scarlet macaw's stomach. Due to the scarlet macaw either being strong or Blu's lack of training, or maybe both, Blu's strike did not seem to affect him in anyway. The scarlet macaw laughed and grabbed Blu in his gigantic talon.

"Put me down!" Blu ordered, slamming his wings against the scarlet macaw's talon.

"No-one gives the orders around here except me." the scarlet macaw responded, speaking in a Spanish accent. He used his wings to balance himself and slammed Blu to the ground with one talon while using the other talon to grip his beak.

Blu struggled and attempted to get free, but the large scarlet macaw was not letting go. He attempted to tell his children to run away, but they could not understand him. After a moment of struggling, Blu was put to sleep from lack of oxygen. Now that he and Jewel were subdued, the large scarlet macaw proceeded to turn his attention towards the blue macaw kids who stood together in fear.

The scarlet macaw chuckled and began to approach them, slowly to make them feel more terrified of him. "What do we have here?"

"Leave us alone!" Crystal barked as she and her brothers stepped back away from him.

"I am afraid none of you are in any position to make demands." the scarlet macaw informed them. He spoke in a much more calm attitude compared to the other villains they faced in the past. "Now the three of you are coming with me. If you refuse, then I will be forced to dispose of your parents."

The kids were old enough to understand what he meant by this. By now, they were back up against a tree with nowhere else to go.

"NO!" Rey yelled in fear of his parents being killed.

"Don't hurt our mom and dad!" Crystal pleaded with fear in her tone.

"Then cooperate and they were will remain unharmed." the scarlet macaw reassured. He knelt down to them, causing the kids to lean their heads back when he got closer to them. He chuckled and placed his gigantic wing around the three. "Now, let us take a walk, shall we?"

* * *

"Dad...Daddy!...Daddy! Please wake up, Daddy! Please! Wake up!"

The sounds of his youngest daughter pleading for him caused Blu to finally open his eyes after being put to sleep by his attacker. He groaned and used his wings to lift himself up. His vision was not clear at first, but after blinking his eyes a few times, he could see again fine. The first thing he noticed was Jessica standing in front of him with Jewel nearby.

"Daddy!" Jessica cried in relief, jumping into her father's wings.

"Jessica." Blu sighed in relief and hugged his youngest daughter close, relieved to see that she was safe. "Are you okay?"

Jessica nodded and rested her head against her father's chest.

Blu hugged her for a few more seconds until he heard someone else groaning. He quickly jumped onto his talons and ran over to Jewel, who was recovering herself after being knocked into submission. "Jewel!"

He used one wing to help her stand and checked if she was okay and not injured fatally in anyway.

"Blu." Jewel sighed and hugged him for a few seconds. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I could say the same about you." Blu smiled and stroked the side of her face.

Jewel noticed that Blu's right eye had sustained injury. It was now bruised and slightly swollen. "Blu, you're eye."

"It's just a little swollen, Jewel." Blu assured while he set Jessica down onto the ground. He touched his injured eye for a moment, but then it occurred to him that Rey, Azul and Crystal had not yet said a word since he woke up. "Rey? Azul? Crystal? Are you kids okay?"

There was no response.

"Kids!" Blu called out, now beginning to worry. He quickly picked up Jessica with a worried expression across his face. "Jessica, where are your brothers and sister?!"

"I...I don't know." Jessica admitted sadly. She looked away, ashamed that she did nothing to help, but then again, there was nothing she could have done to prevent what had occurred. "I...I hid when that big bird attacked. I was scared."

Blu did not respond and looked towards Jewel, who in return, looked extremely nervous. He placed Jessica onto his back and quickly began to look around the area of their home just in case there was a slight chance Rey, Azul and Crystal may be hiding nearby and were just waiting to be found.

Blu desperately searched the entire area of his and Jewel's home for any sign of their children or the mysterious stranger who kidnapped them, but he was unable to find anything. "Kids! Kids!" he called out to no avail. "Kids!"

"Kids!" Jewel called out, searching inside nearby tree hollows that were uninhabited, but she too was unable to find anything.

The two blue macaws search desperately for their three children, but they were gone. Whoever had taken them was long gone and there was nothing they could do to find them.

Jewel, feeling heartbroken without her children, collapsed to the ground, crying heavily out from her eyes. "No!...My kids...My babies..."

Blu was deeply upset and wanted nothing more than to get his children back, but it was his duty to take care of his wife too. He landed down on the ground beside him and comforted her with a hug, allowing her to cry tears into his chest. "It's okay, Jewel. It's okay."

"Blu, how is it okay?" Jewel inquired, closing her eyes as her tears had left damp marks under her eyes. "Our children have been kidnapped. I want them back!"

"Jewel, I promise you, we're going to find our kids and then we're going to make however took them pay." Blu assured his wife, stroking her head down to her neck to comfort her. "I promise. No-one takes our family and gets away with it."

"But...But what are we going to do?" Jewel inquired, trying to prevent herself from crying further. "We have no idea where they could be, no leads, nothing."

"I'll get them back, Jewel." Blu reassured, as he rose a determined expression. He leaned back and placed his wings upon her shoulders. "Jewel, Jewel, I need to look at me know. I know you're upset, I am too, but this is important."

Jewel obeyed and looked up towards him, her eyes filled with tears.

"Take Jessica and go to Linda's bookstore." Blu requested, lifting her chin up when she looked away again. "You and Jessica will be safe there, I promise. I'll find Nico and Pedro and send them there too, okay?"

Jewel nodded in response. "Okay, but after that, I'm coming back. You'll need my help."

"Jewel, no. I can't risk something happening further." Blu explained, but his words did not look like they were getting through to her. He sighed, knowing she was not going to take no as an answer. "Okay. Stay there until I find some leads. I promise that the second I find out where our children are, I'll come and get you, and we'll get them back together."

"...Together." Jewel sniffed and held Blu's wings in her own.

Blu and Jewel looked into one another's eyes for a moment while holding wings. They moved their faces closer to one another's until their beaks locked and they shared an romantic yet farewell kiss for now. After they finished their kiss, Blu placed Jessica onto Jewel's back before bidding the two farewell. Jewel extended her wings and took flight into the sky, setting course for the city of Rio de Janeiro where they would be safe.

Now Blu was alone, just like when he was in that alternative world. He had no idea where to start looking yet. The place he decided to check was his home. He only took a quick look in there a moment ago, but now he could look properly.

Blu flew up to his home and landed inside the hollow to begin his investigation. His eyes were averted towards the end of the tree hollow when he nothing something that was not there before: a normal cell phone. He walked over to investigate. There was a note beside the phone with the text saying.

 _Speed dial 1_

Hesitating for a moment, Blu picked up the cell phone and pressed the one key before pressing the ring key. Blu held the phone in his talon against his eardrum while listening to the rings, waiting for someone to pick up. After three rings, the phone was answered and the person on the other end of the line spoke first.

 _"You got my message, I assumed?"_ the caller on the other end spoke. He clearly did not sound the same as the large scarlet macaw who attacked them earlier, hinting that whoever had taken his children was not working alone.

Blu tried to prevent himself from getting angry and kept a cool head for as long as possible. "Who are you and what do you want? Where are my children!?"

 _"I can assure you that they are safe. I apologize if my associate caused you much trouble."_ the caller assured him. _"I will be more than happy to explain why I have taken them, but not just yet. I have important matters to be dealing with."_

Blu was not going to just sit back and allow this kidnapper to hold his children in who knows where. This kidnapper obviously had no idea who he was messing with.

"I want you listen me and listen to my very carefully." Blu suggested as he kept a cool head for now. "I may not know who you are, or what you want. If you're looking for something in return from me, I can assure you now that I nothing to give you. I do, however possess a very unique set of skills that make me a nightmare to birds like you. I've battled birds you would never believe existed. I'm going to give you one chance and one chance only...Give me back my children right now and that will be the end of it. I will let you walk away from this. But if you refuse, I will use all of my intelligence to track you down. I will hunt you, I will find you...And then, I will kill you."

The caller on the other end did not seem to be fazed by his threats. He chuckled on the other end of the line. _"Good luck with that. I assume you want to discuss this like civilized birds? Meet me at the coordinates written on the back of the note. I look forward to meeting you in person. Keep the phone too. Consider it my gift as compensation."_

With that, the caller hung up on the other end of the phone. Blu angrily placed the phone down and slammed his wing against the wall of his home, taking out his frustration. When he found whoever had taken his children, he vowed that he would make them wish they never even looked at him once.

Before Blu could proceed to the location, he had to go and get help from his friends to make sure Jewel and Jessica remained safe. Fortunately, Nico and Pedro did not live that far from Blu and hopefully they had not yet gone to their club as usual.

* * *

Blu flew as fast as his wings would carry him, dodging every obstacle in his way until he finally made it to Nico and Pedro's tree. The two best friends looked as if they were about to leave. Blu got there just in time. He quickly landed on a tree branch and caught his breath as quick as he could.

"Hey Blu bird." Nico greeted until he noticed immediately that something was not right. "Blu, you alright?"

"What happened to your eye?" Pedro inquired, noticing his friend's injury. "Is everything a'ight?"

"Guys. I need your help." Blu explained after he finally caught his breath. He caught straight to the chase. "This morning, Jewel and I were attacked by this large scarlet macaw. We tried to stop him, but he bet us and he took Rey, Azul and Crystal!"

Both friends gasped in response.

"Oh snap!" Pedro exclaimed while he placed his wings into fists and began to act as if he were boxing. "Where he at? Nobody messes with a friend of Pedro's!"

"Pedro, I think you better sit this one out." Nico suggested. He did not forget the last time he tried to act tough when they tried to safe Jewel from Nigel. "Blu, what can we do to help?"

"I need you guys to do me two favors." Blu requested. He handed Nico the note that was left for him by the kidnapper. "Go to the military and tell them to meet me at this coordinates. I spoke to the kidnapper and he told me to meet him there, but I got the feeling he's not a man of his words. After you do that, go to Linda's bookstore. Jewel and Jessica are there and I can't protect them and search for my children at the same time. Can you guys do that for me?"

Nico and Pedro could not deny that they were worried what would happen to their blue macaw friends, but they had to do this for their friends who they consider family now. Scratch that, they were family.

"We're on it, Blu." Nico assured him with a nod.

"You can count on it." Pedro nodded.

"Thank you, guys." Blu thanked and leaned down to share a hug with the two.

With that taken care of, Blu departed in one direction while Nico and Pedro flew in the other to do as Blu instructed. Along the way to his destination, Blu could not help but wonder why this had to happen. For half a year he had finally been living the life he wanted with his family and now this big scarlet macaw had to appear out of nowhere and attacked Blu and Jewel, kidnap three of his children, and for what? What reason did these kidnappers take his children?

Hopefully these wonder could be answered when Blu confronts this kidnapper. Taking him down was going to be difficult for more than one reason: his children's lives may be in danger, that big scarlet macaw would protect the kidnapper, who's to say the kidnapper isn't a master of martial-arts?

Blu did not want to think about that right now. His main focus to get his children back no matter the costs. He was going to get them back one way or another and if these kidnappers hurt them in anyway, they were going to be sorry.

* * *

 **Oh-uh, looks like tension is beginning to rise. Rey, Azul and Crystal have been kidnapped and Blu must hurry to find a way to save them. Let us hope he can rescue his children before it's too later. Stay tuned for chapter 4.**


	4. Chapter 4: confrontation

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Return of the blue macaws**

 **Chapter 4: confrontation**

 **Hey everyone, Rico here with chapter 4. I noticed a guest review asking why the kids names are different in this story. Sir/Ma'am, please read the author's note in the first chapter to understand why, thank you. In the meantime, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for.**

* * *

Blu arrived to the location that he had been told by the mysterious villain who had claimed to have taken his children. Blu had no choice but obey for the safety of his children. He landed just outside the tree hollow in a huge open area, trying to plan his next move.

"Okay, Blu, just stay calm." Blu thought, inhaling a deep breath to ease his worries. "Let's just talk to this guy. I'll do anything to get my kids back-"

He was cut off from his thoughts when he noticed a large shadow had gazed over him, causing Blu to gulp. He slowly looked around to see the large scarlet macaw who had attacked him the previous day, standing behind him with his wings folded.

"Well, well, if isn't the tiny macaw." he teased with a grin. "I wonder why you're at the far end of the jungle, I take you...I don't know, you're missing a couple of children."

Blu grunted when he now realizing that this large macaw trying to anger him and so far it was working. He curled his wing into a fist and angrily went to strike him in the stomach, but the large macaw blocked and grabbed Blu in his giant talon. He kept a solid grip around his body and lifted him up into the air.

"Put me down!" Blu demanded, hitting his toes in an attempt to make him let go, but his attacks had no effect. "Where are my kids?!"

"Oh, they're safe for now." he assured with a grin. "Now, let's take a walk, shall we?"

The large macaw flew up towards the hollow with Blu in his grasp. Once he reached the hollow entrance/exit, he tossed Blu inside and landed right at the edge. Blu tried to get up, but the large scarlet macaw picked him up in his giant wing and struck him twice in the ribs.

"Ahh, ahh, ahh." a voice warned from the far end in the hollow. "No killing yet."

Blu turned around to try and see who was talking, but the figure was hiding in the shadows. He immediately assumed that this was the one who was behind all this and the one who kidnapped his children. The large scarlet macaw must be a henchman of his.

The large macaw groaned and slammed Blu to the hollow floor, causing the defenseless blue macaw to groan in agony. He proceeded towards the hollow exit/entrance, looking back at his boss. "You have a couple of moments alone with him. Then I come back."

After the large scarlet macaw was gone, Blu used his wings to stand himself up at perfect timing when the mysterious figure emerged from the shadows. His expression changed from anger to shock when he identified the mysterious kidnapper when he was in the light and in full view.

He was...A blue macaw? But that was impossible, Blu, Jewel, and the kids were supposed to be the last. And to make matters more confusing, this macaw was also in a bird-sized wheelchair with no use of his talons.

Now in clear view, Blu got the chance to study his appearance. He had dark blue feathers the same as him, light grey beak talons; green eyes, and had a scar running down his eye. He was grinning evilly for now.

"Well, well, I've been looking forward to meeting in you." the blue macaw greeted with a slight chuckle. "I apologize for the behavior of my bodyguard Butch; he has a hatred for you in particular. My name is Max, thank you for asking."

Blu could tell he was being sarcastic, but now he was not in the mood for that. He came here for one purpose and one purpose only: to get his children back. He angrily stomped towards Max and shoved him back.

Max groaned slightly, but did not seem to look bothered that he pretty much had no chance against Blu. He chuckled and brushed it off as if it were nothing. "Now that was not very nice, was it? You don't go hitting strangers, especially your own kind."

Blu raised his talon and gripped Max's throat, preparing to choke him unless he revealed the location of his children. "I don't care who you are or what you want, just give me my children back and I won't kill you."

Max only laughed in response. He seemed to be mentally unstable and only laughed towards Blu's attempts to threaten him. "Oh, my blue macaw, friend, you really think threatening to kill me is a good thing?"

Blu was beginning to lose his temper and felt like he was going to snap and lose his breaking point any moment now. He curled his wing into a fist and struck Max directly at the side of face, injuring him heavily. "Where are my kids?!"

"Now, now, have patience, and maybe I'll be willing to-Oomph!" Max groaned as Blu struck him a second time, and caused his wheelchair to push him back slightly, but he continued laughing nevertheless. "Hahaha! I think you almost broke one of my cheekbones there."

Blu was getting tired of all these games and struck Max three more times in his stomach. "Where are my KIDS?!"

Max continued laughing in response.

"WHERE ARE MY KIDS!?" Blu demanded and unleashed his anger, performing a quick series of attacks in different parts of his body.

Despite the hits he had taken, Max continued to laugh while groaning at the same time. He looked up and decided to point out the obvious to prevent Blu from wasting anymore of both their times. "You have nothing to threaten me with, Blu! Nothing to do with all of your anger, all of your hate, but I must say, I'm impressed for your motivation and determination to get your children back."

Blu strike him again, but no matter how many times he struck Max, it was not enough to get him to talk. Max was too crazy to oblige and take any effect from his strength.

"Such little angels, aren't they?" Max mocked him with a loud chuckle. "Poor little defenseless chicks. You know, I wonder which one of them would last the longest, but I assume the girl, she shares her mother's aggression."

"And mine too!" Blu added, using all of his strength to strike Max directly in the stomach, winding him in the process.

Max groaned heavily and clutched his stomach, but a few seconds later, he continued to laugh like the maniac he was. "Oh, Blu, so angry, so powerful. Hard to believe that you lived with humans with most of your life, I bet it got boring. I wonder if that pretty wife of yours would join me."

This was beginning to push Blu further. He grabbed Max and performed an undercut against his chin. "Shut up! Where are my children?!"

"Now if you just asked nicely-" Max was cut off yet again when Blu delivered a powerful blow to his chest. "Or maybe not. Hahaha-Oomph!"

Blu angrily struck Max in the face yet again, obviously wanting answers to his children's whereabouts. He knocked him against the hollow wall before gripping his throat in his right talon, preparing to choke him. "Where are my children?!"

"Oh, Blu. All that anger inside of you, but are still not willing to kill someone who doesn't need to die." Max replied with a smirk across his beak, obviously not seeming to be afraid of him. He groaned as Blu struck him in the fact yet again. "Oomph!"

Blu angrily growled in response as he curled his wing and struck Max directly in his face, almost breaking his beak in the process. "I don't care if you are one of my kind! Where are my CHILDREN?!"

Before Blu could demand more answers from him, a large, powerful force knocked him onto the other side of the tree hollow, hitting the hollow wall upon impact. He attempted to get himself up, but could only groan as Butch had placed his talon upon his back.

"I've waited so long to do this. With your death, destruction will finally begin, and I can find peace." Butch said, picking up the blue macaw in his strong grip as he raised him into the air.

Blu could only watch as the thought of Butch breaking his back shot through his mind. But as luck would have it, Butch did not break him and merely threw him out of the tree hollow. He did not have enough time to descend to safety, and shouted in pain as he landed down on his back.

As Blu used his wings to get himself, he felt the ground vibrate slightly as he saw his attack jump down from the tree hollow. He jumped up onto his talons and took a couple of steps back as he tried to figure out how he was going to win this.

For once, Blu did not have any powers to use to his advantage in order to defeat the large scarlet macaw and would have to rely on his own strength, and hopefully, he still remembered some of those tactics he had learned.

The two macaws stood on opposite sides of the large open area they were in while up above, Max had seemed to recover from his beating from Blu, and had to the strength to push himself over to the hollow exit/entrance, wanting to watch the battle between them both.

Blu panicked as Butch charged towards him at great speed, but he managed to dodge just in time. He curled his wings and struck a couple of hits against him, hitting him in different parts of his stomach that did cause him to take a couple of steps back, but it did not look like it was going much.

Butch raised his right wing and struck the blue macaw directly in his stomach, knocking him a full ten-feet back. He marched towards Blu, who stood back up onto his talons with his wings raised.

Butch raised his wing and knocked Blu a few feet away for a second time, showing almost no emotion at all as he watched him plummet to the ground. "This is the great Blu?"

Blu groaned as he held his wings against his stomach, but knew he would not have long to recover. He waited for Butch to strike again, but this time, he ducked under his huge wing and jumped behind him, curling both of his wings like fists and striking them against his back once.

Butch grunted slightly as he swiftly turned around and grabbed Blu's neck with his talon, lifting him up in front of his face. He curled his wing and struck Blu in his chest, letting him go at the same time that caused him to all through mid-air until he hit a tree upon impact. "You disappoint me."

Blu stood back up, despite the great pain shooting through his body that was a little difficult for him to cope with. He charged towards Butch as fast as his talons would move him, sliding against the ground to slip through his talons.

Butch watched in confession for a moment before he felt his enemy had jumped onto his back, tying his wing around his neck in the process.

Before Butch had the chance to throw him off, Blu managed to pull him down enough until his talons had touched the ground, and then he kicked Butch in his back as hard as he could, followed by pushing him forward.

The scarlet macaw did fall to the ground for a couple of seconds, but it did not take him long to recover. He marched towards Blu for a second time, and grabbed him in his talon.

Blu placed both of his wings against Butch's talon and attempted to pry himself free, but he found his grip was too strong. He grunted as Butch raised his right wing to strike him again, but in the quick of a flash, Blu swung his body up and placed his talons against his wing to block his attack.

Blu kicked his talons into Butch's eyes before biting his toe that caused him to let go. He took his chance to attack and struck a couple of hits against Butch's stomach, hitting him with as much strength as possible, but his efforts seemed pointless.

Butch swung his talon back and kicked Blu all the way over to the other side of the area they were in. He finally had enough of this blue macaw, and prepared to end this. He placed his right wing around his body, using it like he was going to knock something or someone out the way.

Butch did not hesitate and began charging as fast as he could, marching towards the blue macaw like a rampaging bull. He had to admit Blu was quite a worthy opponent, but he was no match for him. "I revel in this. We are like two Kings who battle for the soul of this jungle."

Blu panicked as he jumped out of the way too early and was knocked down by Butch, who continued running in the same direction. He quickly jumped back up, only to see the scarlet macaw had changed course, and was now heading towards him again.

While he was charging, Butch spoke to his current enemy as he continued charging towards Blu in an attempt to knock him over, and for every time he did, he would continue running for a couple more seconds before changing direction again. "Know how much this jungle will end once I deal with you. I will make this jungle kneel before me, and then I will leave it in ashes."

"Gentleman, I would hate to interrupt!" Max called out to them from where he was watching the entire thing. He smirked as Butch charged towards Blu and knocked him to the side. "But can we move this along? I got work to do."

Butch stopped from charging and took a big leap directly towards Blu. He landed against the ground, causing it to vibrate upon impact. He stood back up to see Blu had been knocked down by vibration of his powerful impact. "Very good. I see there is still some free-spirited wisdom in you."

"Yes." Max agreed, raising his voice as he shook his right wing in the air. "Now beat it all out of him!"

Blu groaned as he stood up to see the scarlet macaw marching towards him for a second time. He was picked up in Butch's talons again, and felt his grip tighten against him. Not knowing what to do next, Blu extended his wings and rapidly flapped them against Butch's eyes, not knowing what it was going to do exactly.

Butch grunted in response as the blue macaw's flapping blew wind into his eyes, and this caused him to close his eyes, distracting him and temporally stunning him for a moment.

Taking his chance to attack, Blu placed his wings onto his talons and attempted to pry himself free. He curled his wing and slammed it against his toe, and he was dropped to the ground, finally free from his grip.

While the scarlet macaw was still stunned and had to rub his eyes, Blu curled his wings like fists as he charged towards him and began a series of quick-focused attacks, a popular move he learned from his once, good friend Rico.

He radially struck Butch in his stomach as fast as he could, rapidly hitting him in the quick of an eye. After he had struck him at least fifteen times, Blu jumped up towards his head and kicked him directly into his face.

Butch finally got his eyesight back, and eyed the blue macaw panting slightly. He had to admit the many hits from Blu had hurt him, but not enough to cause him to stop now. He kicked Blu down onto his stomach, and placed his right talon against his back, holding him down onto the ground.

"I expected more of challenge." Butch admitted, pushing his grip down further against the blue macaw. "You really disappoint me."

"Not like we have much in common." Blu replied, sitting himself up as he rubbed the back of his neck. He ducked down as Butch went to attack him, but using his intelligence to his advantage; he moved behind him and kicked him in the back.

Butch swiftly spun around with his right wing curled as a fist, and struck Blu under his chin, knocking him a few feet into the air like a ragdoll, and landing down with a sickening thud.

Blu groaned as he attempted to get up before the scarlet macaw could get to him again. He placed his wing onto the ground and picked up some scattered dust, and waited for him to get close before throwing the dust into his face.

"Arg, uh." Butch groaned, holding his wings to his eyes in an attempt to get the dust out from his eyes.

Blu charged towards him and began another series of quick, focused attacks, hitting him as fast as he could in different parts of his stomach. He continued doing so without stopping before he would have the chance to get his eyesight back. He stopped his series of attacks after Butch had gotten his sight back, and delivered one more blow to him, striking him directly in his under belly.

Butch merely grunted in response as he grabbed the blue macaw in his talon and threw him all the way onto the other side of the large area they were in. He slowly marched towards Blu, growling under his breath as he wiped away a little more dust that was left over out from his eyes.

After Blu had been thrown, he landed into a mud pit upon impact, and at bad timing, it began to rain, making this difficult for him. He attempted to stand up, but slipped and fell back down. He sighed as he leaned up and shook his wings, trying to get the mud out. "You got mud in my feathers! It took me forever to get clean last time."

"I think mud is going to be the least of your worries, macaw." Max called out to him, smirking as he watched his personal guard pick Blu up in his talon.

Butch silently growled under his throat as he tightened his grip against Blu while shoving him into the mud in an attempt to kill him. He held him down under the mud for a few seconds before finally pulling him out.

Blu gasped for oxygen as he spat out mud that was in his throat. He placed his wings onto Butch's talon and tried to pry himself free again, but found he did not have enough strength and energy left to get free.

"You are weak." Butch said, watching his helpless victim pant and struggle in his grip. "I hoped you would put up more of a challenge...But this was unsatisfying for me." He watched as Blu was on the verge of passing out. "You will feel your bones break as I will crush you with my own strength-"

Butch was cut off as he looked to his left where he could see multiple military macaws had arrived to help out. He looked back towards Blu for a moment and gave him a warning before dropping him. "You got off easy this time."

The huge scarlet macaw dropped Blu back into the mud while marching towards the military macaws with his wings placed behind the back of his head in surrender. Or so it looked like it at least.

One of the military macaws, who looked to be the highest ranking person out of them all spoke up, and moved towards the other military macaws. "You are under arrest. Now come quietly. We have you outnumbered."

Max, who hid inside the tree hollow, watched the entire thing as he pulled out a smoke-pellet in his wing to use to his advantage. He smirked as he threw it directly in between the group of military macaws with good aim.

The military macaws coughed as they could no longer see Butch or anything else around them, and struggle to get their breath back as they closed their eyes, speaking simultaneously while struggling. "My eyes!" "Smoke!" "I can't see!" "What the?"

It took a couple of minutes for the smoke to clear, and when it did, the military macaws were shocked to see both Max and Butch had escaped. They quickly flew up into the air and scanned tree hollows, and any sort of hiding spot, but found it was too late to find them.

"They got away!" the military macaw grunted, landing back down onto the ground.

Two other military macaws helped Blu out from the mud and carefully helped him lay down on the ground on his back.

He groaned as he attempted to lean up and find Max to continue the search for his children, but his body was too weak to continue, and he soon found himself slipping off into a deep sleep. The last thing he heard was the military macaws calling out his name.

"Hey, Blu! Blu!...Blu!"

* * *

 **Ladies and gentlemen, we have met the kidnappers of our story: Max and Butch. It seems Blu was no match for them, but now he must use all of his intelligence to find his children. Let's just hope he will recover soon. Chapter 5 will be here as soon as possible.**


	5. Chapter 5: the search begins

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Return of the blue macaws**

 **Chapter 5: the search begins**

 **Hello everyone, we're back with chapter 5. How's everyone enjoying the story so far? I might even put up a voting poll so I can know how much you're enjoying it. Well, down below you will find chapter 5, enjoy reading.**

* * *

In an underground hideout far from the home of the blue macaws, was the home to Max and his juggernaut bodyguard Butch. It was quite dark underneath, so they had to set up some lights to keep the place bright.

Inside the room they were in, Max was reading his confidential plans while Butch was away doing his own thing. Nearby, the three blue macaw kids Rey, Azul and Crystal were sitting in a cage and were tied to each other with their backs pressed against one another. They were afraid and wished their parents would arrive any moment now to save them, but so far, nothing. Even worse, they didn't even know Max's intentions with them.

"Mr. Max, please let us go." Crystal begged, hoping her pleas would get through to him.

"We promise we won't tell anyone of your evil plan." Rey promised.

Max only grinned in response and turned himself around to face the blue macaw children. He leaned back in his wheelchair and pressed his wings together. "I understand that you wish to leave, but unfortunately, that is not possible. Your father and your mother will without a doubt do what they can to stop me. However, with you in my 'care' then I have nothing to worry about."

The kids fell silent after this, realizing they were not going anywhere anytime soon.

"Why would our mom and dad want to stop you?" Azul spoke up, but due to the position he was sitting in, he could not see Max and could only speak.

Max did not answer for a moment. Instead, he proceeded over towards a small nearby that had a round object hidden underneath some covers. He approached the table and pulled out the covers, revealing a bomb. It looks small, yet it looked like it could cause at least a quarter of this jungle to explode, harming a lot of wild life civilian.

The three blue macaw kids gasped in response.

"You're going to blow the jungle up!?" Rey assumed with his brown eyes going as wide as they could go.

"Why?!" Azul asked in a panicked tone.

Max merely chuckled in response and decided to not answer their questions and continue with his work. "So many questions, yet so little time. I can assure you children that the answers you seek will be revealed soon enough, but until then, sit comfortable and enjoy the show. Hahahaha..."

* * *

The last thing Blu remembered before passing out into darkness were the sounds of his children calling out for help. He imagined it of course since he was too busy engaging in combat with Butch, but nevertheless, he missed them dearly and was not going to rest until they were safe with him. After being unconscious for who knows who long, Blu slowly began to open his eyes and blinked a few times to get his vision back.

He leaned up and discovered he was lying in a nest inside the military macaw medical area. Blu was surrounded by few military macaws along with some other injured birds in the same room, but most importantly, an old friend was sitting beside him.

"Blu, you're awake." Lenny greeted while sitting beside his injured friend. "How are you feeling?"

"How am I doing?" Blu repeated, surprised at the question he was just asked. "Let's see, I've lost three of my children, got my butt kicked by a huge macaw, have no leads on where to find my children, and to top it off, I have a headache."

"A simple 'yes' would have been nice." Lenny responded with his wings crossed. "Your friends came by yesterday and informed by of the situation. My men rushed to go and help you, but by the time we got there, that blue macaw Max and the other macaw Butch escaped. We're sorry, Blu, we did all we could."

"It's okay." Blu assured, but then his eyebrows arched. "Wait a minute, how do you know their names?"

Lenny stood up and prepared to leave the medical area. "When you're feeling up to it, come and meet me in database room one floor up. You have authorization to be there."

As the captain walked away, Blu tried to lay back down for a moment and think about his next plan of action. He had no idea where to start searching and had no idea on where to even begin to start investigating. For all he knew, Max and Butch could be hiding all the way in Dominican Republic. No, that was exaggerating a little bit too much. There was no way they left Rio de Janeiro, they were here somewhere and Blu was going to follow through with his threat and find them no matter what.

Once Blu was feeling good enough to walk, he proceeded to go and locate Lenny in the database by flying up to the next floor. Once he arrived, he met Lenny along with Raxos.

"Here." Lenny spoke out of the blue, sliding over some documents to Blu. "This was definitely them, right?"

Blu picked them up and opened its contents, revealing two criminal database information on Max and Butch. Once he recognized their pictures, he could confirm it. "Yeah. That's them, alright."

Lenny accepted the documents back and passed them over to Raxos.

"This right here is Max." Raxos spoke up; placing down Max's papered profile on the table. "An intelligent, psychopathic blue macaw. He was imprisoned in a prison in the amazon but according to our resources, he escaped recently and came here. His intensions are currently unknown."

"He's a blue macaw..." Blu mumbled; surprised that some of his species still existed. He raised his voice. "Why wasn't I told there was more of my kind?"

"Blu we only found out this information ourselves not too long ago." Lenny assured. He beckoned for Raxos to place down the second file.

"This is Butch." Raxos said, placing the scarlet macaw's profile on the table beside Max's profile. "A large scarlet macaw arrested a couple of months back for assault, but was released recently. We're unsure if he and Max have any connections in the past in anyway, but we do know that they're working together."

Blu didn't really get much information form this. Half the information he already figured out on his own. "Now what? How can we find them?"

This is the part that Blu would not look forward to hearing.

"We have no idea where to begin searching, Blu." Lenny admitted, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "We're put our patrols to investigate their last known locations. We can't do much more than that. I'm sorry, Blu, but I promise as soon as something comes up-even the slightest thing, we'll tell you."

Unfortunately, this only seemed to anger Blu further. He angrily slammed his talon down and raised his voice even more. "That's it?! Why do I even bother coming here? A maniac and a brute have my children captive and all you're going to down is search?!"

"There is nothing more we can do." Lenny explained, but unlike Blu, he was keeping his voice in a calm tone.

Blu did not seem to believe that. He groaned and began to march away from the military macaws.

"Where are you going, Blu?" Lenny inquired, crossing his wings together.

"To find my children and to put an end to this." Blu answered as he marched out of the database room, slamming the door behind him in the process.

Lenny only sighed in response and turned towards Raxos, who shrugged in response since he had no idea on what to do from this point. Lenny was not going to stop Blu from his search, but that did not mean he was not going to help and make sure his friend remained safe.

He hoped Blu would stay safe and wished him the best of luck.

Shortly after gaining information about his targets from the military macaws, Blu needed to gain some assistance from someone, someone he knew from a while ago.

Drako; a friend who assisted him many times and served as the Angelus' personal bodyguard. After the events of the war between light and dark, Drako could no longer live in the World of Light due to the memories of the Angelus now that she was gone. He moved to Rio and would assistance anyway possible.

Drako had agreed to meet Blu just outside of the samba club where a few birds and other wildlife enjoyed hanging out occasionally. Blu arrived outside the club and spotted Drako casually leaning against a tree with his wings crossed while wearing a black robe.

Despite wearing his silver accented armor, along with his other gear, Drako believed it was important to remain hidden and out of sight. Not only that, but he also told Blu not to speak to him directly. It was a rule he established to avoid others getting hurt.

Blu approached him and stood on the other side of the tree, leaning back with his wings crossed and his back pressed up against the tree in a similar pose to Drako. The two acted like they did not know each other and were just two birds hanging out.

"What is it you wish to know?" Drako inquired, acting like he was speaking to himself but was truly speaking to Blu.

"I need your help." Blu replied while avoiding eye contact with him in anyway and keeping his eyes locked forward. "Three of my children have been kidnapped. I have no idea where to start looking. I know the names of the kidnappers. You get around a lot, you might know them."

Blu dropped down a small envelope from Drako while pretending to be alone.

Drako picked up the envelope and opened its contents, revealing the pictures of Max and Butch that Blu was able to get copied from Raxos. Drako hummed in response and placed them back into the envelope. "The blue macaw I do not recognize, but the large macaw I do. Butch use to be a professional wrestler in his clan, challenging anyone to come and face him."

"Do you know where I can find him?" Blu asked while he picked up the envelope.

"His exact location I do not know, but if I remember correctly, he use to be a part of a scarlet macaw tribe run by a scarlet macaw named Felipe-" Drako answered, but cut himself off from speaking when a couple of birds walked past. Once they were out of hearing range, he continued. "He will be able to give you the answers you seek, but be warned, Blu. Felipe does not take kindly to strangers in his territory."

"I'm not afraid." Blu reassured. He was not going to allow some scarlet macaw to stop from finding his children. "Where is his tribe located?"

"North from here, three miles from here. Shouldn't take you that long to get there." Drako answered. Now that he was finished here, he was going to leave and allow Blu to continue his journey, but he did not want the blue macaw to go on his own, especially after noticing his black eye. "I will come with you."

"Drako, I appreciate that, but this is something I need to do alone." Blu replied as he leaned up and prepared to spread his wings and fly. "I'm not looking for trouble."

"You may not be looking for trouble, but I doubt Felipe's intensions will be the same as yours." Drako warned, leaning up to follow Blu before he flew away. He continued to pretend he did not know Blu in public. "I will follow from a distance and watch over you. If there is trouble, I will help."

Blu was about to protest, but he could see that Drako was not going to take no for an answer. He could do with the help too, especially in these times. He inhaled in a deep breath and accepted Drako's assistance. "Okay. You can help me, but after I find out what I need to know, I have to go alone from there."

"I understand." Drako assured with a nod. He extended one wing, beckoning for Blu to take flight. "Begin your journey. I will follow a moment later and keep a distance to avoid anyone noticing us."

"Let's do it." Blu agreed. He flapped his wings and took flight into the sky, setting course for the scarlet macaw tribe run by this Felipe. He did not hesitate to make haste and pick up some speed to get there quicker.

The sooner he got the information he was looking for, the sooner he could find his children and defeat Max and Butch. In the process, he was going to find out why Max and Butch took his children to begin with, and when they did, he would not hesitate to make them pay for their actions.

* * *

It took a few minutes until Blu finally arrived at the scarlet macaw clan. He looked back for a moment and noticed Drako was nowhere in sight, suggesting that he was already hidden somewhere and was waiting to help in case negotiations when bad.

Blu descended his flight and landed down in the center of the scarlet macaw tribe where they scarlet macaws were playing a couple of games of soccer and were speaking to one another. Once they noticed a blue bird landing, they stopped what they were doing and all eyes were focused towards Blu.

Blu tried his best to ignore them and began to approach Felipe, who was sitting in a man-made throne with a couple of scarlet macaws beside him. While approaching the leader, a couple of scarlet macaws began to speak to Blu and by the sounds of their tones that did not seem to be happy seeing a non-local here.

"Who's this dude?"

"You lost, blue boy?"

"I think you're in the wrong territory, dude."

As Blu reached Felipe, his two guards stood forward to stop him. Before more actions were taken further, Felipe beckoned for the guards to stand aside and allowed Blu to continue approaching him. Blu stopped only a couple of feet from Felipe's throne and now there was an awkward silence.

Felipe had a non-emotional expression at the moment and finally spoke after a moment of silence. "A blue macaw? It's been a long time since I saw one of your kind. Especially after the events that occurred years ago... I thought your species were extinct."

While Blu was here for information on Butch, Felipe's comment had raised another question on his mind. "There was more of my kind here?"

"That's right." Felipe confirmed with a nod. "Not many of them. Maybe around two hundred at the most. They were run by this old blue macaw that had all these strict 'rules', trying to tell the blue macaws what they can and can't do. We never did see eye to eye, but...That didn't mean I wanted for them to...You know."

"What happened?" Blu asked yet another question.

"Loggers. They attacked our home and caused a lot of loved ones to perish that day...It's been haunting me ever since." Felipe admitted, lowering his head while he somewhat sad expression rose across his face. He quickly shook it off and got back to the matter at hand. "Enough about that. Why are you here? We don't exactly take kindly to strangers."

"Felipe, all I am here for is information." Blu assured with his wings placed out. "I'm looking for a scarlet macaw who use to be in your clan. His name is Butch."

The mentioned name caused the other scarlet macaws to turn towards one another, mumbling a couple of words to one another. It seemed clear that the name had not been mentioned in a while, but the good thing was that this confirmed Butch use to be here.

"I remember Butch." Felipe answered with a slight chuckle as he leaned back on his throne. "He was very loyal, yet very brutal at the same time. He was a good guy and a good friend of mine once. Why do you ask?"

"I need to know where he is." Blu explained, but then he noticed the scarlet macaws turned angry towards him and would've come closer if not for Felipe beckoning for them to stop.

Felipe frowned and pressed his wings together. "And why should I tell you? Butch may not be a part of this clan anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm going to sell out my own kind. Unless you tell me why you're looking for him?"

Blu was about to answer with the truth, but he did not feel comfortable sharing this information with these group of strangers.

Felipe noticed this and beckoned for his guards to move in. "Fine. You two, get him out of here. He's wasting my time."

The two scarlet macaws grabbed Blu's wings and began to drag him towards the exit of their tribe. Blu struggled and refused to go back until he got his information, but two against one was not giving him the chance he needed right now.

Realizing that he was running out of time, Blu burst out with the truth. "Felipe! Butch kidnapped my children!"

Felipe's eyes widened. "Wait! Let him go."

The scarlet macaws looked skeptical for a moment, but obeyed their leader and released Blu who ran back towards Felipe.

"Butch and another blue macaw kidnapped my children." Blu explained. He looked back for a moment and noticed Drako in the distance who looked as if he was about to arrive when he noticed Blu being escorted out a few seconds ago. Blu continued his story. "I don't know why they took them, but I'm not going to just sit here and let these maniacs get away. Please, you have to help me. I'll do anything to get my children back."

After hearing his story, Felipe's expression appeared to have softened. He sighed and stood out of his throne, approaching Blu until they were only a few feet apart. "I was wondering why you had a black eye. What is your name?"

"Blu." Blu introduced himself.

"Blu...I may have had trouble with your species in the past, but that doesn't mean that I hate you." Felipe explained while he crossed his wings together. "I'm not going to allow children to get hurt. Butch may have been one of us once, but...Not anymore. I don't know where to find him exactly, but I know where you can look. If you head east a couple of miles from here, you'll find a wrestling arena where birds and other jungle life enjoy battling it out. Butch always use to spend his time there. Speak to the manager, he's a fiery-shouldered parakeet named Enrico. He'll be able to tell you what you need to know. Tell him I sent you so he knows you're cool."

Blu nodded in response. "Thank you, Felipe."

With the information gathered, Blu proceeded to head to the arena and located this Enrico as soon as possible. The scarlet macaw clan watched as Blu flew away into the distance with Felipe silently wishing Blu good luck in finding his children and bringing justice.

* * *

 **The search for Blu has began, but will he be able to find his children before it's too late? Stay tuned to chapter 6 to his story continue. I decided to write Felipe into this story as I thought he was quite an interesting in the movie and if they do create a Rio 3, he could be a supporting character. After all, while it is not confirmed in the movie, it does look like the blue macaws and scarlet macaws made peace. We'll have to wait and see. Chapter 6 should be here on either Wednesday or Thursday.**


	6. Chapter 6: the search continues

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Return of the blue macaws**

 **Chapter 6: the search continues**

 **We're back with chapter 6, ladies and gentlemen. In the last chapter, Blu begins the search for his kidnapped children. Here he continues his search. Enjoy.**

* * *

Now that Blu had a lead to follow, he proceeded to go to the arena and find this Enrico who may be able to give him the information he needed. Along the journey, Drako flew beside Blu, breaking his own protocol since he usually preferred to pretend he did not know any of his friends to avoid them getting into the trouble.

"You have what you seek?" Drako inquired as he picked up a little bit of speed.

"That's right." Blu confirmed with a nod. "I need you head to the arena not too far from here. Felipe mentioned that Butch use to compete there in the past. I need to speak to someone named Enrico."

Drako nodded in response, understanding the next part of Blu's journey that would no longer require his services. "I take it this is where we part ways for now?"

"That's correct." Blu answered. He did wish for assistance, but needed to continue this on his own. He could not explain why in the short time they had. "I'm sorry, Drako, but you said it yourself it's best if we avoid each one to avoid someone getting hurt in case danger follows...I...I can't explain why I feel I need to do this alone."

Drako remained silent and beckoned for them to land near a tree for a moment to speak. Now that they were perched, Drako took off his dark robe and talked to Blu face to face, breaking his protocol. "Blu, it is my duty to watch over you. I made a promise to the queen that I would protect you no matter what. This was during the war, but now with the war over, I still continue to fulfill her promise. I will leave for now, but know that I will always be watching you no matter what."

Blu nodded in appreciation and was able to raise a smile for the first time in a while.

Drako patted his should before he dropped his usual smoke pellets and disappeared from plain sight. Blu sometimes wished that he could just leave like a normal bird, but he was not going to question his methods since he had a job to do.

Blu extended his wings and resumed his flight towards the arena, picking up the pace a little to get there quicker.

* * *

After locating the arena, Blu finally arrived and began to descend down towards the huge open area where two birds were brawling in the center of the arena with different wildlife cheering for them. Blu perched down on a tree along with the other specters while he began to survey the area for this Enrico.

Despite the much wildlife in the area with their chanting, Blu located the bird he was searching for. Enrico the fiery-shouldered parakeet was sitting on a high tree, watching the battles from a great view. Blu flew up to greet him and talk to him about locating Butch.

Enrico was leaning back on a man-made chair and was enjoying the seen, but his attention turned away when he noticed a blue macaw landing on his tree with him. Now that he was closer in view, Blu was surprised to see that Enrico was quite an elderly bird.

According to Blu's resources from living with Linda, fiery-shouldered parakeets could live up to thirty-five years and by looking at Enrico, he looked around twenty-five-years-old. It didn't matter how old he was, what mattered was getting the information he needed to know.

"Sorry son, betting's closed for this fight." Enrico informed Blu, mistaking him from a gambler bird.

"I'm not here for a bet. _What would you even bet with?"_ Blu wondered in his thoughts, but shrugged off the question and got straight to the point. "Felipe sent me."

"Ah, Felipe. It's been a while since he and I last spoke." Enrico replied smiling and stood up to greet Blu properly, offering the blue macaw a talon shake. "Please to meet you. I'm Enrico."

"I'm Blu." Blu introduced himself and accepted his talon shake. "It's nice to meet you. Felipe told me you could help me find someone."

"And who would that be exactly?" Enrico inquired as they finished shaking talons.

"His name is Butch. He's really tall and muscular, speaks in a deep Spanish accent." Blu described Butch the best he could remember. It was not fun getting knocked unconscious again by someone three times his size.

Enrico appeared to know who he was referring. "I remember Butch. He was one of our best fighters here. Unfortunately, one day he broke the rules and we were forced to ban him from competing here ever again."

"Banned?" Blu repeated, raising a curious eyebrow. He only had been here for a couple of moments and already noticed this was the type of place he would never go or bring his family and friends to. What could have Butch done to get banned?

"This may seem like a bad place, Blu, but I can promise you that this merely sport." Enrico reassured as he walked to the end of the tree and looked down at the battle below. He turned around and leaned back as he began to explain the story of Butch. "We have rules here, Blu to avoid things getting out of hand and people sustaining serious injuries. There were plenty of rules, but our most important rule was if a fighter is down and defenseless, the other fighter wins. Butch broke that rule. He fought against another bird the last time he was here and after he won, he wasn't finished. He continued to beat down a defenseless macaw, even after we declared it was over. It took five of us to restrain him. If we were a few seconds too late, he might have killed that macaw."

Blu appeared shocked, surprised to how brutal and heartless Butch truly was. He thought Nexus was bad, but he had never witnessed Nexus kill or injure someone in person. Now Blu was even more concerned for his children and now is determination raised even more. "Enrico, Butch and another blue macaw named Max have kidnapped my children. I need to find them, now."

Enrico's eyes widened slightly. "He kidnapped your children? This is bad...Let me think for a moment."

Enrico began to tap his wingtip against his chin to help him think easier. In his old age and time here, it was getting difficult to remember certain things, but he was not going to give up trying until he remembered. When something familiar popped into his mind, he clicked his toes in excitement. "I remember. After Butch was kicked out from here and his clan, I heard he began to hang out in a club just a mile east from here. There's no way he's not there."

And so the trail continued, but at least Blu was getting closer.

"Thank you, Enrico." Blu thanked and prepared to make haste to continue flying, but Enrico stopped him.

"Before you take off, I'll put out a word to some of my connections if that helps." Enrico offered, willing to help the blue macaw with his journey to find his children. "If something comes up, I can let you know."

"I'd appreciate that a lot, thank you." Blu thanked a second time. "My home is south from here, near the city. It's near a huge tree that stands out, you can't miss it."

Enrico nodded and wished Blu good luck. Blu took flight into the sky and took towards the direction Enrico had pointed him in. He was unaware that there was other clubs in the jungle and would have to go and check it out sometime depending on what type of club it was.

Then again, Nico and Pedro would probably call him a traitor for going to another club.

Going to clubs was clearly not on his mind right now. Blu didn't even feel like sleeping at the moment, not until he held his three children in his wings where they would be safe and sound and away from danger.

* * *

Locating this new club was not that difficult. It had a completely different design to Nico and Pedro's club. Rather than using cloth as a roof and crates for support beams, this club used giant leafs to serve as a roof and used logs and other sticks for decoration.

Blu casually walked inside the club and was surprised to see this was actually a quiet club rather than an actual partying club. Everyone seemed to be relaxed and was talking to one another in conversations. They didn't even seem to acknowledge Blu's presence at the moment.

Blu proceeded towards the bar where a green-billed toucan was serving drinks to customers.

"What can I get you, sir?" the toucan inquired in a polite tone.

"Nothing thanks." Blu declined, but he changed his mind when he felt a little dehydrated. "Actually, just some water please."

"You got it." the toucan nodded and picked up a wooden cup from below the bar, pouring in water and sliding it over to the blue macaw. "Enjoy."

Blu nodded in thanks and drank his water in one big sip. He felt like he had not drunk any water in days and could really use the drink to cool him down. While he was in a rush of course, Blu studied the club one more time and was still slightly surprised to see how civilized this place looked. Why would Butch be hanging around in a place like this.

Blu was about to find out. He placed his cup down and called the toucan over. "Excuse me; I'm looking for someone who I heard comes in here regularly. His name is Butch, huge scarlet macaw with a deep Spanish accent."

The toucan immediately seemed to know who Blu was referring to. "Oh yes, I know Butch. He usually comes in here four times a week, but I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks. I remember the last time he was here. He told me he was going to be busy for a while and might not be coming back for a long time until his work was complete. Why do you ask?"

Blu was not sure if he could trust this toucan or not, but there was not anyway he could avoid this question. That and he was a terrible liar. He looked left and right to make certain no-one was listening before whispering to the toucan. "Butch has taken my children. I need to find him now before it's too late. Please, do you know where he is?"

The toucan seemed surprised but nevertheless, shrugged it off and answered Blu's question. "He lives by the cliffs just west of here. I don't know what tree exactly, but he definitely lives over there."

Blu's hopes were beginning to rise now that he was getting somewhere. "Thank you."

He proceeded to make haste to leave, but the toucan stopped him before he left.

"Wait." he called out, but remembered to keep quiet at the same time. "Why did he take your children? He seemed like an okay bird to me."

"I don't know." Blu answered. He turned back towards the exit of the club and marched towards the outside. The determination of getting the ones he loved back was beginning to rise further. "I'm going to find out."

The second he stepped foot outside of the club, Blu extended his wings and took flight directly towards the west by the cliffs like the toucan had instructed. He was getting closer now to rescuing his children and bringing down Max and Butch for good.

But first he had a promise to keep. He had promised Jewel that is soon as he found out where their children were being held captive, he would inform Jewel and they would rescue them together. He didn't have any more time to waste and after hesitating for a moment, he turned towards the direction of the city and set course for Linda's bookstore.

* * *

Blu was unsure what gave him the adrenaline to fly faster than usual without getting tired. It could have been the determination to get his children back, the anger, the worry, but either way, he finally arrived at Linda's bookstore. He flew to the second floor window and knocked on the guest room window, the same room where Blu and Jewel stayed during their recover.

Jewel was present inside, along with Jessica, Nico and Pedro. She quickly flew up the window when she noticed it was her mate and opened the window, allowing Blu to fly inside. She quickly joined him and the others on the bed. "Blu!"

"I...I know where they are." Blu spoke up while he panted from the exhaustion.

"Where?!" Nico piped up.

"West of this club I found, near the cliffs." Blu described before drinking out of some water he noticed on the table. He tipped some on his head and made haste to get going now that he had Jewel with him.

"Let's go!" Jewel ordered, immediately taking flight out of the window, but she stopped when she noticed Blu had not yet followed her. "Blu, what are you waiting for?! Let's go!"

"Give me a minute!" Blu requested while he was still catching his breath. He knelt down to Jessica and shared a hug with her before narrowing his eyes towards the samba duo. "Nico, Pedro, can you guys stay here and watch Jessica?"

"You got it, Blu." Nico agreed with a nod.

"Thank you." Blu thanked and released Jessica from his embrace, assuring her that he would be back soon and that it was all going to be over soon. "Your mother and I will be back soon, Jessica, with your brothers and sister."

"Please stay safe, Dad." Jessica wished while the fear of losing her father and mother too raced around her mind.

"I promise I will." Blu promised from the bottom of his heart. He extended his wings when Jewel called his name a second time and made haste outside of the bookstore, remembering to close the window behind him.

Together, the two reunited lovebirds flew as fast as their wings would carry them to proceed back to the west of the jungle and find their children as soon as possible. The second their children were out of harm's way, Jewel vowed that she was going to make Max and Butch pay for what they have done.

"Once I'm finished with those two, they're going to wish that'd never been born!" Jewel growled as she picked up the pace to get there sooner. Despite knowing that Butch was two and half twice her size and strength, and that Max was a psychopath, she did not care how tough they were. Together, she and Blu were going to end this.

"We'll take them together, Jewel." Blu agreed while he had to rub his talon against his eyes when he felt a little bit of sleep in his eye. He had not taken a long rest since the events had begun, but he was not going to fall asleep now, not where they were so close to finding their children.

* * *

For the rest of the journey, the lovebirds remained silent since that had no idea what to say at this point. They only time they spoke was just to ask if they were going in the right direction or not and they were since they easily located the club again and began to head west of it like the bartender had instructed.

Rain began to pour down from the sky as they approached their destination, damping their feathers but neither Blu nor Jewel cared about getting wet at the moment. Finally, they arrived and lowered themselves into an open area where they suspected Max and Butch's hideout was or at least one of them if they were fortunate enough.

"Where do we begin looking?" Jewel asked Blu since he was more experienced and more intelligent with situations similar to this.

Blu placed his wingtip against his chin and began to think. If Butch was around here and was holding his children captive, he could not have been in a tree hollow. No, that would have been too obvious even for him. There was a strong chance that he might have moved from this area and if that was the case, than this is where it would end. From this point forward, Blu had no trail to follow and by the look of this area, not many wildlife locals lived around here.

While Blu was thinking, Jewel began to look around the area herself and searched in a couple of tree hollows, but they were all empty. It was like a ghost time. She looked beyond this area and could see a stream. Bad thoughts were beginning to race around her mind, but she shrugged them off and remained hopeful and returned to Blu.

Blu, in the meantime, noticed something unusual at the bottom of a tree. There was a lot more grass covering the bottom compared to the other trees. Curiously, Blu approached it and maneuvered his way through the grass. After clearing some of it out the way, he knelt down and his hopes rose when his eyes locked upon a hatch.

An underground hideout.

"Jewel!" Blu called while trying to contain his excitement since they still had the element of surprise.

Jewel quickly flew over and jumped beside Blu. Her eyes widened when she too noticed the hatch. "They're underground? Let's go!"

Before Jewel could open the hatch, Blu stopped her and placed his wings upon her shoulders.

"Blu, what are you doing?!" Jewel inquired, surprised that he had stopped her when they came this far to stop like this. "Let's get in there!"

"Jewel, I'm going in. You're staying here." Blu told her. He thought about this during their journey here and thought this was the best decision.

"No I am not." Jewel disagreed as she attempted to push past him, but Blu did not let her past. "What's wrong with you? Our children are in there!"

"I know." Blu responded while he held her still. "Jewel, listen to me! There's a chance that they might slip past me and try to escape. If that's the situation, then I need you to stay here to stop them in case something happens to me."

"Blu...No...I..." Jewel struggled to pronounce her words and began to shed a tear or two. "Blu, please. Let me come with you. We'll stand a better chance together."

Blu continued to refuse to let Jewel join him. "Jewel, if we want our kids to be safe, this is the best thing to do. I can't risk them escaping. Please."

Jewel began to think about it for a moment, long and hard. Her mind and instinct told her to ignore Blu's advice, but her heart told him to listen to him. She nodded and dried the tear in her eye after coming to a decision. "Okay...But if I hear you're in trouble, I'm coming in there."

Blu had the feeling this was the best offer he was going to get. He nodded in agreement. "Alright. Now let's get our kids back."

The blue macaws shared a few second before Blu proceeded into the hideout. He knelt down and pulled open the hatch, observing down at the darkness below. He inhaled a deep breath and jumped down inside, remembering that his children were counting on him to rescue them.

One thing's for certain, Blu was not going to let them down. He was coming for them and then they were going home.

* * *

 **Blu and Jewel may have possibly located their children. Now they must confront Max and Butch to save their children and bring the kidnapper's to justice. Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7: rescue

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Return of the blue macaws**

 **Chapter 7: rescue**

 **Hello to the many people reading my story. We are back with chapter 7. Now later today I am going to be putting up a new voting poll on my profile so make sure to check that out. Also, I'm willing to make a deal with all of you. If this chapter can get at least 12 reviews, I'll upload the next chapter tomorrow. Before you begin, I have a request for non-member reviewers: please do not just span hundreds of reviews otherwise I won't count it. Does that seem fair, everyone? Well, here's chapter 7.**

* * *

Now inside the hideout, Blu being as cautious as ever, carefully scanned the inside of the underground hideout for any sign of his children or his enemies. It was quite dark that made it a little difficult to see, but for the sake of his children, he had to keep moving to find them. He would not dare leave them behind to anyone.

"Kids?...Kids?" Blu called out to them in a yelling whisper, tip-toeing his way through the underground hideout. "Kids...? Rey? Azul? Crystal? Are you out here?"

Blu continued moving through the underground hideout until something in a square shape caught his interest. He moved closer towards it, revealing it to be a small cage that looked big enough for only one adult macaw. A huge smile raised across his face when seeing three familiar faces sitting with their backs pressed, tied together. "Kids!"

The three blue macaws kids jumped for joy (not literally of course) when seeing their father. Except for Azul, that is, who was unable to see his father due to the fact he had his back towards him, but hearing his father's voice told him all. "Dad!"

"We missed you, Dad!" Crystal admitted, wishing she could just hug her father right now, but being tied up and locked in a cage prevented that.

"You're a hero, Dad!" Rey added, a huge smile rising across beak when seeing his father to the rescue.

"Kids, I missed you all so much." Blu enthusiastically told them, moving around to the other side of the cage, searching for the cage door. He found what he was looking for and discovered the cage had a padlock attached to it. He began using his toes to pick the lock while calmly assuring his children that it was going to be okay. "Kids, don't worry. I'm going to get you out of here and then-"

"Dad, watch out!" Crystal warned, interrupting her father from his sentence.

Blu swiftly turned around upon hearing his daughter's warning, narrowly dodging the attack of a giant talon. He jumped up while eyeing a familiar face he was not looking forward to seeing: Butch, the juggernaut of their henchman, and Max's seemingly indestructible bodyguard. "Butch."

"This time I will not go so easy on you." Butch warned, cracking his neck to both sides as he prepared to finish off what he started. "I will make you kneel before me, and first I will break your spirit, and then I will break you."

"I'm not afraid of you, Butch." Blu told him, curling his wings together like fists as he prepared to take him on one final time. "Just get out of my way and I will try not to hurt you."

Butch merely chuckled in response, finding his words to not only be unbelievable, but amusing at the same time. "I do not fear you, macaw. You will face me with all of your resolve or you will die."

"With pleasure." Blu agreed, as he cracked his wingtips together. He waited patiently for the perfect opening before he would attack.

Butch raised his wing to knock him back, but Blu dodged and jumped forward with his wings curled into fists. He unleashed his fury upon Butch, striking him many times in different body, and to his surprise, he was able to perform enough damage to knock the scarlet macaw back.

After striking Butch a few too many times, Blu leaped up and delivered a direct kick into Butch's face, knocking him a good couple of feet back until he collapsed onto the ground.

Taking the opportunity before he recovered, Blu quickly charged back towards the cage his children were locked inside and used his toe to pick the lock. "Everything's going to be okay, kids, I'm going to get you out of here."

"Where's mom?" Crystal inquired, while keeping a close eye on Butch to make sure he did not try anything.

"She's waiting outside for us." Blu answered, smiling widely when the lock made a click before it dropped. He did not hesitate to get inside and quickly began to untie his children before Butch or Max showed up.

The ropes restraining his children were a little difficult to break, but the determination to get his children back gave him the strength he needed to get them free.

Once they were untied and free, Blu embraced Rey, Azul and Crystal in a tight embrace, resting his head upon all three of them. "You're...You're all okay. I was so worried for you, kids, I thought I was never going to see you again, but I promise, everything's going to be okay. We're getting out of here."

"We missed you too, Dad." Crystal replied, never feeling more relieved to be with her father.

"We knew you would save us, Dad." Rey added, nuzzling up towards his father's wing.

"I want to go home, Dad." Azul requested, while holding back tears of relief.

Blu could not agree more and wanted nothing better than to get out of this underground hideout. "Let's go home. I'll take you to your mother and then I'm coming back to finish this. I won't let them get away with this."

Blu took his wings from around his children and proceeded to leave the cage with them following closely. However, as he stepped out of the cage, he was too focused for his children's safety that he did not notice Butch had recovered. By the time he realized, it was too late and Butch grabbed him in a death grip.

Butch placed his wings around Blu into hold and used all of his strength in an attempt to crush Blu.

Blu attempted to get free, but with his back pressed up against Butch's chest, that made it difficult. "Let me go!"

"Get off my Dad!" Rey ordered as he jumped up and struck Butch in the back of his head, but the little macaws attempts did no effect.

Butch used his wing to push Rey back before focusing all of his attention back towards Blu. "You will not escape, macaw. Your ribs will crush and I will be victorious!"

"Let him go!"

Butch was startled slightly to the sudden screams and did not have enough time to prepare when a familiar female blue macaw jumped onto his back and dug her claws deep into his back, causing him enough pain to drop Blu out from his death grip.

"Blu, run!" Jewel called out, as she hung on for as long as she could.

Butch radially spun around with his wings waving around all over the place until he finally got a grip on Jewel and threw her against the wall. The force was that powerful that it caused her to be temporarily dazed.

"JEWEL!" Blu yelled in a worried tone. He cried out his rage and tackled Butch down, furious striking his attacks against his face. "Nobody touches my wife! Nobody!"

"Mom!" Azul cried out. He and his siblings quickly ran towards her to check if she was all right.

Jewel groaned and used her wing to lift herself from the ground while using her other wing to rub the back of her head. She was feeling dizzy and her vision was going blurry.

Blu repeatedly struck his attacks against Butch, but the scarlet macaw's strength was that tough that it only seemed to annoy him. Butch blocked Blu's next attacked and proceeded to deliver a powerful blow to Blu's torso, launching him all the way across the room.

Blu landed with a sickening thud and felt great pain shooting through his back, but he was not going to stop there. He got back up and charged towards Butch, getting into a grapple with the huge macaw. Both macaws struggled to push the other back, but Butch seemed to have the upper hand at the moment.

While the two macaws engaged in combat, the three blue macaw kids stood by their mother who was still dazed from the powerful blow she had received from Butch. Rey and Azul shook her in an attempt to get her up.

"Mom!" Rey called her name while shaking her talon.

"Get up, Mom!" Azul shouted, tugging on Jewel's wing.

Crystal watched as her father fought against the scarlet macaw who had kidnapped her and her brothers. While she was watching the battle, she was completely unaware of a figure carefully sneaking his way behind her.

By the time Crystal realized, it was too late. Someone had placed one wing around her and pulled her back. She screamed and called out for help. "Help! Dad!"

Blu delivered one more powerful strike to Butch and swiftly turned around when he heard his daughter's cries for help. He gasped when he saw that Max had taken Crystal hostage, holding one wing around her while holding a blade to her neck. "Crystal!"

"Well, well, well." Max greeted with his evil grin across his beak. "It seems we have a family reunion. How nice, Heheha."

"Let her go!" Blu screeched and prepared to charge directly towards Max, but while he was distracted, Butch recovered and slammed his wing against Blu, knocking him towards the other side of the room.

"Butch, I think we our welcome has been outstayed." Max told his bodyguard. He continued to hold a struggling Crystal who desperately tried to wiggle her way free, but he was not letting her go that easy.

Now that both adult blue macaws were down and dazed, Max and Butch proceeded to leave the hideout. Butch took a hold of Crystal since he was stronger and would not have much trouble restraining her. The two villains proceeded towards the exit, but before they left, they turned around at the last second when Blu came charging towards them a second time.

Max, whoever, had anticipated this and was prepared. He threw a man-made bola towards Blu made out from rope and rocks. The bola wrapped around Blu's talons, causing him to trip over and landed first on his stomach.

"So predictable." Max sighed as he pushed him towards an alternative exit out of their hideout. "Let us be on our way, Butch."

"Did you remember to set the-?" Butch asked, but he was cut off when Max interrupted him.

"Hush now!" Max scolded. "No need to spoil the surprise for our friends. Now, let's go."

Crystal attempted to get free from Butch's grip, but he did not loosen up one bit. She continued to yell out for her father but her screams began to go fade as her kidnappers took her away. Blu groaned and began to use his beak and wings to pull apart the rope restraining his talons together.

The second he was free, he immediately ran towards Rey and Azul, who were still attending to their mother. He knelt down to them and placed each one around them. "Rey, Azul, stay here with your mother. I'm going to get your sister back."

The two brothers nodded, but they had yet to warn their father of the other danger ahead. "Dad, wait! There's something we need to tell you!" they called out simultaneously.

"Tell me later!" Blu responded as he gave chase after Max and Butch.

Blu was now even angrier than before. Nobody and he meant nobody touches his daughter and gets away with it. He growled and followed down the same path they had gone through, ready to catch them and end this once and for all.

* * *

Now that they were out of the base, Max and Butch proceeded to go and find somewhere safe until it was time for the next part of their plan. A good thing that they had a hostage with them to keep Blu and/or Jewel away from them, knowing that they would not risk their daughter being harmed in anyway.

"Let us be on our way, shall we, Butch?" Max told his bodyguard, as he pushed himself through the jungle.

Butch followed him while using one wing to keep Crystal restrained. The young chick struggled the best she could in an attempt to get free, but regardless of how much she tried, Butch was too strong and if her father could just about get free from his grip, then she had no chance.

"Let me go!" Crystal demanded, slapping her wings against Butch's huge wing as if it were doing any effect.

"Struggle all you want, my dear, but you're not going anywhere." Max told him in a calm tone.

"My dad's going to kick your butts!" Crystal warned them, but neither of them seemed to be fazed by her threats.

"Your father won't be doing anything if he doesn't want anything to happen your pretty little face." Max replied, as he lifted his wing and stroked the side of her face with a single wingtip.

As the two criminals with their hostage continued making their way through the jungle until they could find somewhere safe out of the bomb's range. Along the way, Max placed his wing out as a signal for Butch to stop when he heard thought he heard something.

"Something's not quite right." Max trailed off and cautiously scanned the area for any sign of hostiles. "We should keep our eyes open-"

As if his suspicions were correct, Max felt a powerful blow strike him directly in the fact that sent him a good few feet away. He chuckled slightly and whipped it off to see a familiar blue macaw standing before him, and by the look across his face, he did not look happy one bit. "Blu, my amigo."

Blu growled and wanted to unleash his anger on Max and charged straight towards him, but before he could strike Max a second time, Butch stood in front of him and kicked Blu away like a soccer ball.

Butch had launched Blu quite far back than he hoped, putting some distance between them. He adjusted his grip across Crystal just in case she tried to escape.

"Dad!" Crystal cried out, gripping Butch's wing in an attempt to pry herself loose, but stopped when she was not making much progress.

Blu groaned and felt great pain shoot through his body, but the determination to rescue his daughter gave him the power he needed to get back. He curled his wings into fists and proceeded towards them, but stopped in his tracks when Max warned him.

"Ah, ah, not another step." Max warned, gesturing his wing towards Crystal. "Unless you want anything to happen to your daughter, you'll stay where you are."

Blu had no chose but to obey for his daughter's safety. He remained where he was for now. "I'm going to give you one chance and one chance only, Max. Give me my daughter back now or I'll hurt you all and take her back by force."

Max only laughed in response, amused by Blu's threats while Butch kept a straight expression with an angry glare. "Oh, Blu, you and your threats make me laugh. If you think beating me up didn't make me talk, then what good will threatening me with words do? You have nothing to threaten me with."

"Let Crystal go!" Blu demanded, preparing to take another step forward, but stopped when Butch tightened his grip slightly to prove he was not messing around. He was fearful for Crystal's safety, but he had to keep his distance for now. "I swear, if you hurt her-"

"You'll do what?" Max interrupted with his wings crossed. "I hate to point out the obvious, but I am paralyzed below the waist and can't fly either. I have no family and no friends, you can't exactly threaten me."

Blu realized that threatening Max would not do any good; he was too psychotic to be fearful of his threats. He only had one more idea to try in an attempt to get Crystal back and that was to negotiate with them. "Please, let her go. I'll trade myself in for her. You know it's a good deal."

Max only grinned in response and took out his belt that he was wearing, and began stroking it in his wings. "You know, Blu, I must admit that I'm impressed with your selflessness and determination to save the one you love. You want your daughter back? Here."

Max tossed the blade over towards Blu that lodged itself into the ground beside him.

Confused, Blu picked up the blade in his talon and examined it closely, but he had the feeling he was not going to like what happened next.

"You want your daughter back, Blu, cut off a toe." Max requested with a slight grin.

Crystal was startled by his requested and turned back towards her father.

Blu gasped in response and dropped the blade, taking a couple of steps back. "My-My toe!?"

"Yes." Max confirmed with a nod. He leaned back against his wheelchair and folded his wings together a second time. "I want you to prove your love to your daughter, and to do this, I want you to cut off a toe. Which one, you can decide."

Blu nervously raised his right talon as he picked up the blade into his talon. He loved Crystal no matter what and would do anything to get her back, but cutting off one of his toes? No doubt it would be extremely painful, but he had to do it, to save the one he loves.

"Dad!" Crystal called out, shaking him out from his thoughts. She began crying slightly as she wanted nothing more at this point than to go home with her family.

Blu sighed with his eyes closed and shifted his gaze towards his daughter with a concerned and fearful expression. "Crystal, honey, I love you more than anything in the word and I'll do anything to get you back. Everything's going to be okay, honey. Soon, we'll be back home where it's safe."

"Daddy." Crystal whimpered, now crying more tears than before.

"It will be okay, Crystal." Blu reassured with a smile to let her know everything was going to be okay for her, regardless of what happened to him. He sat himself onto the ground and extended out his left talon, deciding to cut off his back toe.

He placed the blade near his toe and prepared to do what had to be done in order to save her. Blu looked towards her one more time before continuing further, not wanting her to witness this painful experience he was about to feel. "Crystal, don't look, okay?"

Crystal merely nodded slightly in response. She turned away with her eyes shut tight with tears still rolling down her face.

Hesitating for a moment, Blu got the blade in position and prepared to cut his toe off.

"Do it." Max ordered with a wide grin across his beak. He was certainly going to enjoy this.

Blu raised the blade after it was positioned correctly and prepared to slice through as fast as possible to make the cut quick and clean. He closed his eyes and turned away before slamming the blade directly towards his back toe.

* * *

 **Oh uh, did I leave on a cliffhanger? Well, not to worry because if you all would like the next chapter to be here tomorrow, you know what to do. Will Blu cut off one of his toes to save his daughter? Stay tuned to find out.**


	8. Chapter 8: to save the ones you love

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Return of the blue macaws**

 **Chapter 8: to save the ones you love**

* * *

"NO!"

Blu gasped at the familiar screech and halted the blade in the nick of time. He yelped out in pain when the blade had cut his back toe slightly, but he was grateful to see he stopped himself in time before he cut through completely. There was a possible chance it could leave a scar.

Ignoring his toe, he completely jumped up to see his wife climbed onto Butch's back with her talons dug into his back. Butch groaned heavily as he was forced to let Crystal go to use both of his wings in an attempt to shake Jewel off.

Moving fast before she was recaptured, Crystal jumped up and flew up towards a nearby tree where her brothers were hiding. The reunited siblings hugged one another closely for a few seconds until shifted their attention back to their parents. All they could do now was watch.

Blu grabbed Max and struck him in the fact a few times to subdue him before going to help his wife nearby.

Jewel kept her solid grip on Butch's back and dug her claws deep into his back. She never been more furious in her life and wanted to unleash all of her anger on him. "Nobody HURTS MY LITTLE GIRL!"

Butch groaned for a few more seconds until he finally had enough of these pathetic games. He finally grabbed Jewel into his wings and pulled her away from his back. He held her in a tight grip against his chest before using his free wing to strike her directly in the stomach using all his strength.

The force of the blow was too powerful that it knocked Jewel all the way over to a nearby tree. She slammed into it with a sickening thud and collapsed flat onto the ground, landing onto her side.

Blu had witnessed the entire event and cried out towards his wife. "JEWEL!"

After he knocked Max down one more time, he quickly ran over towards her and knelt down beside her, holding her head up with one wing while using the other to stroke her head to check if she was okay. "Jewel? Jewel!"

She remained unresponsive, but Blu was relieved to hear she was still breathing. He knocked her back pretty hard that had knocked her unconscious with a possible head concussion.

Blu carefully lied her down properly before cracking his wing together in anger. He jumped back towards Butch and marched towards him. "YOU MONSTER! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!"

"You have nothing!" Butch shot back, stomping towards the blue macaw as he cracked his neck on both sides. "I will make sure you die slowly!"

The two macaws charged towards each other with their wings raised and engaged further in anger. Blu did not care how big Butch was compared to him and did not hesitate to attack. When the two were close in combat, Blu leaped up and delivered a few strikes against Butch's torso.

Butch groaned and was surprised that Blu's strikes were actually causing him pain, but nevertheless, he was not going to go down that easy. When Blu went to throw another strike, Butch grabbed his wing and lifted him in the air before delivering a few powerful blows to Blu's stomach.

"I am tired of all these games!" Butch told the blue macaw as he tossed him to the ground and placed his gigantic talon against Blu's chest, putting down some pressure to prevent Blu from escaping.

Blu groaned and struck Butch's talon in an attempt to force him to move his talon, but the huge macaw was not even fazed. "Let me go!"

"You no longer give the orders around here, macaw." Butch responded as he lifted his talon for a quick second before slamming it down directly onto Blu. "For too long I have waited for this moment. I will not kill you quickly. I will make you suffer beyond any pain you've ever experienced."

"I've been through worse." Blu responded while he continued to strike Butch's talon and even lifted it up to wiggle his way free, but he remained stuck.

Butch didn't even blink. Instead, he grabbed Blu in his wings and lifted him above his head, preparing to end this once and for all. "Don't be too sure, macaw."

With that, Butch slammed Blu against the ground with all of his strength, causing Blu to feel great pain shooting through his entire body. Unfortunately for him, Butch was not finished yet. He had not even begun to finish yet, not until he saw Blu defeated and dead.

Butch picked up Blu a second time, holding the blue macaw's talon as he dragged Blu against the floor in his grip. He lifted Blu in front of him and curled his wing into a fist before delivering powerful blows to Blu's torso, using all of his strength to ensure that the blue macaw felt the pain Butch wanted him to receive.

After he was finished beating him down, Butch proceeded to swing Blu around like a wrecking ball and slammed him into multiple trees in the area. It was surprising that Blu had not yet broken any bones, but he was serious bruised, cut and swollen in a couple of places on his body.

Blu groaned for every injury he received and attempt to hit back, but he was too weak and had no energy left. He mumbled out a couple of words as Butch hung him upside down. "Butch...You...Won't...Win."

"I already have." Butch replied with a grin across his beak. He lifted Blu and threw him across the air like a ragdoll.

Blu landed in the dirt and slid across the ground for a few seconds. They were no longer in the same area as before, they were now next to that stream nearby. Blu weakly attempted to crawl away while Butch watched his pathetic attempts to escape.

Butch gripped his talon around Blu's torso and lifted him in front of his face yet again, wishing to look his enemy in the eyes before he ended his life. He continued to mock Blu for his failure as he slammed him against a tree. "You have lost, I have won. Today you will die and next I will personal take care of your loved ones and friends, especially your fearsome mate."

Little did Butch know that his words had made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Despite the injuries Blu had received, when hearing the mention of Butch threatening to hurt his loved one, this gave him the strength and energy he needed to engaged combat with him yet again.

Blu growled as he lifted his wings up and placed them against Butch's talon. He let Jewel get hurt once and was not about to let it happen again. "You. Will. Not. Touch her."

"You do not have a say in that anymore." Butch responded as he tightened his grip against Blu and prepared to crush him with his incredible strength. "Let's hear those ribs break."

Blu groaned as he felt his insides being crushed, but h was not going to give up, not now, not ever. He scanned the area for anything useful that could help him make a comeback. There were some sticks that looked strong enough to do some damage along with some vines dangling from the trees that looked useful too.

There was no time for thinking. Running out of time, Blu placed both his wings against Butch's toes and began to pry open his toes while wiggling around to escape from his grip. While Butch obviously had the advantage here with his strength, he was no match for Blu's intelligence.

Finally after a brief struggle, Blu slipped out from his grip and landed against the ground. The first step of action he did was charge towards Butch and tackled him down, knocking the huge macaw down onto his back. Butch obviously did not expect this because he was caught completely off guard.

Blu positioned himself on top of Butch and curled his wings into fists. He began striking hits right to left against Butch's face as fast as he could, unleashing all of his anger and strength against the scarlet macaw for his crimes. "I will make you pay for what you have done to me and my family!"

Despite the many hits he had received, Butch was still not fazed by Blu's threats. He raised his wing and shoved Blu off from him and got back onto his feet. Now he was angry. He lifted both his wings and slammed them against Blu, knocking him back down onto the ground.

"Why do you resist!?" Butch asked as he kicked Blu into a nearby tree. He gripped Blu into his talon a second time and slammed him to the ground, but instead, he was now gripping Blu's throat, preparing to choke him.

"Because no-one else will!" Blu responded as he lifted his own talons and dug them deep into Butch's toes.

Butch felt pain going through his talon he was using to pin Blu down, but it was not enough to make him let go just yet. However, another unexpected pain began to shoot through his back, one he recognized moments. "Ahh! You again!?"

Blu leaned up and rubbed his throat a few times until he saw his beloved was awake and well. "Jewel!"

Jewel gripped onto Butch's back and caused him to stagger back near the trees where the vines were dangling. She was still quite lightheaded from the injury she had received, but she was more than well enough to engage Butch again.

Before Butch could injure Jewel again, Blu swiftly flew up to the tree and ripped off from vines to use. They were not going to be strong enough to subdue Butch by tying them around his wings, but that was not the purpose he intended to use them for.

"Jewel, move out the way!" Blu shouted as he jumped onto Butch's back beside her until she left. Once Jewel was out of harm's way, Blu threw the vines around Butch's neck and proceeded to strangle Butch.

Butch turned his attention away from Jewel when he felt his oxygen being cut off. He groaned as he fell to his knees and clutched his wings against his neck, desperately trying to pull the vine loose enough for him to breath, but Blu was not making it easy for the scarlet macaw.

Blu cried out in anger as he tightened his talons against both ends of the vines and pulled with all of his strength, cutting off Butch's oxygen support further. His anger clouded his mind and he serious was not thinking straight during this situation.

As Butch's eyes went red and he looked as if he was going to pass out from lack of air, Jewel finally stepped forward and placed her wings onto the side of Blu's neck where his shoulders would be and attempted to stop him from continuing his vengeance.

"Blu, stop!" Jewel pleaded, not wanting her kind-hearted mate to become everything he always fought against. "Please, stop Blu. It's over, he's defeated."

Blu continued to choke Butch for a few more seconds, but when Jewel's words finally processed through his mind, he realized that she was right. He wasn't a killer, he never was. Now that he thought about it, Blu had never actually killed anyone before.

All of the brotherhood member victims and the gangsters were killed by the Darkness along with the dark macaws and the light macaws. Vadin was killed by Nexus; the Angelus-when she was his enemy-was killed by the Darkness but later revived by her people.

Johnny the snake was killed by Rico, Kate was currently imprisoned along with Kirilenko and those two idiot dark macaws, Ivan was killed by Arlene after she pulled a tree down on him with her powers, and finally, Nexus was defeated by Rico and later killed by the Angelus when she sacrificed herself to stop him.

Blu had indeed killed Raxos when he and Lenny were trapped in an alternative world, but everything there was not real. None of it ever happened, it was just a dream created by the Orb of Light.

Long story short, Blu had never killed anyone before and he did not intend to start now. Slowly, Blu released the vines choking Butch and watched as the scarlet macaw collapsed onto his stomach, desperately gasping for air as he slipped away into unconsciousness.

Blu panted as he took a few steps away and wiped the dirt from his face. The rain continued to pour down onto their feathers, but neither of the blue macaws cared. It was over, Max and Butch were subdued and their children were safe.

"Blu, you did the right thing." Jewel assured when she caught of glimpse of Blu looking unsure if he had made the right decision or not. "He's beaten; the military can lock him away where he can't hurt anyone again."

Blu was surprised to Jewel's suggestion considered she was usually the short-tempered and feisty one while he was the usually kind, clumsy and intelligent out of the two. He sighed and held Jewel's wing in his own. "Jewel, what if he escapes? I...I can't risk that happening."

"He won't." Jewel reassured, her eyes focused into Blu's to ensure he was paying attention. "I promise. Now let's go home."

Blu never could be happier to hear those words. Before they decided it was time to go home, they had to fetch the military to pick up Max and Butch before they got away again. In their conditions, they were not going anywhere anytime soon.

Blu and Jewel looked towards one another with smiles as they prepared to extend their wings and fly to find their children, but their victory was caught short when Blu felt a powerful blow knock him into a nearby tree with a sickening thud.

"Blu!" Jewel shrieked as she turned away to confront Butch, who had recovered from his near-death experience, and by the expression across his face along with his heavy panting, he did not look happy.

Butch angrily yelled out in rage and slammed his wing against Jewel, knocking her into the air. She plummeted back down to the ground and due to the strike she had received; Jewel did not get the chance to extend her wings to descent to safety.

Jewel landed into the stream and the tide took her away. She desperately shook her wings in an attempt to keep herself afloat and cried out for help. "BLU!"

"JEWEL! NO!" Blu called out and began to fly after her, but his flight was short-lived when Butch grabbed his talons and pulled him back down.

Butch growled and slammed Blu into the ground a couple of times to weaken him. He was tired of all these games and prepared to finish what he had started right here, right now. He grabbed Blu into both of his wings and began to perform a bear hug against the blue macaw to crush him to death.

"Now you DIE!" Butch growled, using all of his power and strength to kill Blu once and for all. He was not taking it easy on Blu this time and was not going to let him go.

Blu groaned in agony as he felt his ribs being crushed but this time, it was three times as worse. Unless he did something in a few seconds, he was going to die and worse, he was going to lose Jewel too and then who knows what would happen to their children.

Blu refused to let any of his loved ones get hurt. As he ran out of time and air, he lifted both of his wings in the air and slammed them against Butch's eardrums, performing the ear slap technique that caused a painful ringing sound to shoot through Butch's ears.

Butch yelled out in pain and while he could have finished Blu right now, he was forced to let go and place his wings upon his ears. In the meantime, Blu had dropped to the ground and struggled to stand onto his talons for a few seconds, but with Jewel in danger, there was no time to waste.

Blu leaned his head up and furiously charged towards Butch, grabbing him by the waist and tackling him into the same stream. Both macaws felt into the stream and the current took them away in the same direction Jewel was heading.

Unlike Jewel and Butch, Blu had some experience with swimming. When he was living in Minnesota, Linda had given him swimming lessons in case of emergencies or just for exercise. A good thing she gave him those lessons too.

Blu submerged from underwater and did not hesitate to swim towards the same direction the current was taking him to pick up more speed. Butch was nowhere to be found at the moment but saving Jewel was Blu's main priority right now.

Jewel was not too far in front of Blu. She was panicking and desperately trying to swim as she continued to cry out for help. "Blu! Blu, I...I can't...Swim!"

Blu was catching up fast and picked up the pace to keep up. "Jewel, hang in there! I'm coming!"

Unfortunately for Blu and Jewel, since they were at the edge of the mountains, the stream was taking them to a waterfall. Unless they escaped soon, they would reach that waterfall and fall into the ocean below.

Refusing to give up, Blu continued to use all of his strength to swim faster and catch up to Jewel. Despite the many beatings he had received, the love he and Jewel shared gave him the power he needed to give him strength and motivation.

"Jewel, I'm almost there!" Blu shouted, but he was unsure if she could hear him or not. He continued to swim in her direction, but then he heard the waterfall ahead and widened his eyes in fear. "Oh cheese 'n' sprinkles."

As a few more terrifying seconds went by, Blu finally caught up to Jewel and grabbed her into his wings, positioning himself behind her as she held his wings around her stomach.

"I've got you!" Blu assured as he looked up ahead to see the waterfall was only seconds away. Running out of time, he placed his legs around Jewel and uses his wings to swim both of them back to safety.

It certainly was a close call, but Blu had got both himself and Jewel back to land before the stream could take them any further. He helped Jewel out of the water and carefully placed her down on her back, allowing her to rest as she coughed up water.

Blu was too exhausted and collapsed onto his back beside her. He extended on wing out and attempted to position himself closer to Jewel. "...Jewel...It's...Okay..."

Jewel coughed up a bit more water until she was free and able to breathe normal again. She had tears rolling down from her eyes, wherever they were tears of happiness or sadness or not was unclear. "Blu...I...Thought...I was going..."

She did not say another word. Instead, the two blue macaws summoned the strength sit up and sat beside one another. Jewel hugged Blu close and rested her head against his chest. Blu, in return, placed his wings around Jewel and rested his head on top of her own, relived to see that she was safe.

"I've got you...I'll never let you go." Blu whispered in a soothing tone to calm her down. He closed his eyes and continued to embrace Jewel close to him.

As a couple of moments passed, Blu and Jewel leaned up their heads and turned their attention back towards the stream where they saw a panicking Butch, who was desperately trying to swim to safety. They watched as he past them and yelled out threats towards Blu, vowing that he would pay for this.

"This is not over." Butch calmly yelled out as the stream took him over to the waterfall. Seconds later, the stream took him down the water and he went plummeting to the ground below.

Blu was not going to kill him, but that did not mean he had to save him either. Butch brought this on himself. Satisfied that he was beaten this time, Blu stood up and helped Jewel stand, but she looked a little weak to walk. He placed one of her wings over his neck and allowed her to lean on him as he walked both of them back towards the area where their children were hiding.

They had one last thing to do and that was to deal with Max and end this.

* * *

 **That concludes this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. Using teamwork, Blu and Jewel have successfully defeated Butch but now Max remains as their final enemy. Chapter 9 coming soon.**


	9. Chapter 9: sacrifice

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Return of the blue macaws**

 **Chapter 9:** **sacrifice**

 **Hey everyone, Rico here and welcome back to the next chapter. Now before we begin, I have a request: I'm not getting that many reviews and because of this, I am unsure if everyone is enjoying the story or not. That's why I prefer it if everyone reviews so I know that I am keeping you ladies and gentlemen interested with the story. In future, I would really appreciate it if you could leave feedback. Thank you, now onward with the chapter.**

* * *

Blu continued to support Jewel as they made their way back into the small open area. Their feathers were completely wet from falling into the stream but at this moment, they did not care. As they reached back into the same area, Rey, Azul and Crystal flew down from their hiding spot and were embraced into a hug from their parents.

"Mom, Dad, are you okay?" Crystal asked both of her parents.

"We're fine, honey." Blu assured as he used one wing to hug his children while keeping the other one over Jewel.

"What happened to Butch?" Rey inquired. He secretly hoped his father had not killed him despite what the huge scarlet macaw had done to them.

When there was silence, the kids expected the worse and looked slightly surprised.

"You didn't kill him, did you, Dad?" Azul asked while secretly hoping that the answer was not going to be the one he wanted to hear.

"I didn't kill him, Azul." Blu assured as he knelt down and placed his wing over them. "Butch killed himself by living the life he had chosen to live. I stopped him and that's all that matters."

The kids seemed satisfied with this answer and merely nodded in response.

"Can we go home now?" Crystal requested, but she had seemed to forget the second yet more extreme danger ahead.

Before Blu could respond, he turned his attention towards a hysterical Max who began laughing uncontrollably. He was no longer in his wheelchair. Instead he was laying on his back while laughing like the maniac he was.

This gave Blu the signal that something was not right. He took his wings from around his family and proceeded towards Max. He stood over him and gripped the psychopathic blue macaw in his talon.

"What's so funny?" Blu inquired with an angry expression across his face.

"Oh, Hahaha, Blu, ohahahaha!" Max continued to laugh uncontrollable. That was until Blu delivered a strike across his face that caused him to quiet down his laughter a little. On the bright side, it had got his attention. "Oh Blu, hahahehea. You may have defeated me and my henchmen, but I still won. Any second now, this whole environment is going to go BOOM!"

Blu's eyebrows rose in confusion, but he had no time to think about it and grunted in anger. "What do you mean?! What have you done!?"

That's when Rey remembered what she was going to tell his father. He quickly hoped towards her father and pulled on his wing. "Dad! Dad! When I was trying to tell you something, Max has a bomb. He was going to blow up this part of the jungle!"

"WHAT!?" Blu screamed as fear began to rise inside of him. "A bomb!?"

"Tick, tick, tock, hahahahaHAHAHAHAHA!" Max cackled in his loudest tone, one-hundred percent positive that he had won either way. He continued to laugh but a single blow to his stomach from Blu shut him up. "Oomph!"

The blue macaws did not have a second to waste. Blu quickly flew back into the hideout and searched the inside wildly for the bomb. He eventually located the bomb under a cloth and could see the time slowly going down. There was only five minutes left until it exploded and unless they figured out how to defuse it, they were going to die.

Blu quickly picked it up and took it outside for some light to see it better. He set it down in the open area, but despite all of his knowledge, he had no idea how to defuse a bomb. How Max even created this was a mystery, but that was something he was going to have to find out another day.

Jewel joined Blu and knelt down beside him. "Blu, can you stop it!?"

"I...I don't know." Blu admitted as he examined the bomb closely and tried to figure out his next plan of action, but he had no idea what to do. "I don't know how to stop it!"

Jewel stood up and marched towards Max. She gripped his throat right within her talon and began to choke him, threatening to hurt him unless she got the information she wanted. "Tell us how to stop it, now!"

Max only chuckled in response. "Oh dear Jewel, you are such an aggressive lady, if you-Oh!" he groaned when Jewel tightened her grip on his throat.

"I'm not messing around!" Jewel growled and tightened her grip further. "Tell me how to stop the bomb now or I'm going to hurt you and make you wish you were never born!"

Despite her threats-and these were true threats-Max was not fazed and continued to grin across his beak. He chuckled a second time as he placed his wings upon her talon. "Oh dear Jewel, there is no way to stop the bomb. It was designed to not be stopped. This is why I kidnapped your children, to prevent you from getting in my way until the comb was finished and I have to say, it turned out wonderful! Hahaha!"

Jewel refused to believe that. "You're lying! TELL ME!"

"Jewel, he's telling the truth." Blu admitted sadly while he looked at the timer to see that there was only three minutes left until detonation. He sighed and gave up on trying to find a way to defuse it. "There is nothing stopping it."

Jewel appeared shocked, but unfortunately, Blu was right. She stomped her talon on Max before quickly gathering up her three children and placing them on her back. "Blu, we have to get out of here before it blows up!"

"Jewel, we can't just leave." Blu declined, unable to imagine how many innocents would day if they left the bomb there. "The blast radius will kill everyone. I can't just sit here and allow that to happen. This bomb will take out a quarter of the jungle."

"What are you saying?" Jewel inquired, but she had the feeling she was not going to like the answer.

"...I...I think the best chance of survival here is if I carry the bomb over the ocean." Blu answered while he turned away to avoid looking into his family's faces.

Jewel appeared shocked, but could never have been more proud of her mate for doing something so selfless to save a bunch of lives he did not even know. Nevertheless, she did not want to lose him after all they had been through together. "Blu. No, I'm not losing you! There's got to be another way-

"There ISN'T another way, Jewel." Blu interrupted her while throwing down his wings in anger. "I have to do this, I have-"

"Blu!"

The blue macaws turned towards the source of the new voice to see a familiar face. It was Drako who slowly began to descend towards the family of blue macaws. He performed a back flip and landed down perfectly beside them.

"Drako." Blu greeted but looked somewhat surprised to see him. For a bird who claimed he would watch over Blu, he certainly had not appeared to help in the fight against Butch.

"I apologize for arriving late; I was busy dealing with some thieves a few miles back." Drako explained as he scanned his eyes to the left where he noticed the defeated Max along with the bomb. "You found him...Is that a bomb!?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Blu answered sadly. He sighed as he did not wish to share his plan with Drako, but with time running out, he had to make this quick. There was only two minutes remaining. "Drako, there is no way to defuse the bomb. I'm going to fly it out to the ocean before it explodes..."

Blu turned around to face his family one more time and began to shred a couple of tears as he hugged them close one more time, knowing that it was the last time he was going to see them. Maybe one day he would meet them in the afterlife, but this was going to be the last time he saw them in this life time.

"Blu, please..." Jewel begged as she sobbed onto his shoulder with their kids hugging Blu around his torso, beginning their father not to go.

"Jewel, Rey, Azul, Crystal, I love you all so much." Blu expressed his love for his family and while he did not wish to make this quick, time was certainly of the essence right now. He leaned back and looked into her beautiful eyes one more time. "Jewel, tell Jessica that I love her and that I couldn't have been a prouder father..."

"You can tell her yourself, Blu." Drako spoke up while his voice appeared to have gone fade as if he was in a far distance compared to them.

Before Blu could responded, he watched as Drako had picked up the bomb into his talons and began to fly as fast as his wings would carry him. With his enhanced strength, Drako began to fly towards the open ocean as fast as he could until the bomb was at a safe distance.

Blu appeared surprised and called out to Drako as he flew away into the distance. "Drako! What are you doing!?"

"Honoring what I have promised to the queen: to watch over and protect you!" Drako yelled in return as he picked up the pace to fly further away.

"Drako!" Blu shouted and attempted to chase him, but he was held back by Jewel who prevented him from following. Drako was going to sacrifice himself to save Blu and the whole part of this jungle from certain doom.

Drako had flown that far into the open ocean that he was nothing but a speck in the distance. A moment or two later, the bomb had reached its countdown and exploded, causing a powerful explosion to spread throughout the open ocean and fume the sky with its orange clouds.

The blast radius was not within the jungle's range, but the explosion had sent a shockwave that knocked the blue macaws back a little, but not enough to cause them any damage. The blue macaws watched as the explosion began to fade away from the sky, leaving no trace of Drako anywhere.

Drako had saved all of them. He had saved a huge population of this jungle with his selflessness. He was a hero who had given his life to protect a place he was not even familiar with that much. He had only been living here for six months, but that was more than enough time for him to do what he had just done.

"Drako." Blu whispered as he dropped down to his knees with Jewel hugging him from behind. "No..."

"He saved us, Blu." Jewel spoke up as she continued to hug him for comfort. "He saved all of us from death."

When Jewel used the term "all of us" that reminded Blu that Max was still present in the same position as before even despite the shockwave. Angered with the death of another ally, a friend for that matter, Blu got out from Jewel's grip and marched over towards Max.

Max chuckled as he watched Blu approach him. "I'm disappointed. The bomb didn't even damage any of the jungle. Where's the fun in that?"

Blu cried out in anger and delivered a powerful blow to Max's underbelly. He gripped the blue macaw by his throat and lifted him into the air which was not all that difficult surprisingly considering they looked as if they weighed the same. "You monster! You killed him!"

"Deaths occur every day. Get over it." Max calmly stated with a shrug, but his response only seemed to anger Blu further.

Blu growled and hovered into the air with Max in his grip. He swung around and threw Max into the air like a ragdoll towards a nearby tree.

"Hahahahaha!" Max laughed as he was thrown into the air, but his laughter was cut short when he impacted against a tree and slid down to the bottom. "Oomph! Ahh...!"

Blu was not finished with him yet. He gripped Max's throat a second time and forced him to stand on his talons despite the other blue macaw being paralyzed. He forced Max to lean against a tree to keep him stood up for him to suffer the consequences for his actions.

"You just don't understand, do you, Blu?" Max told him as he used his wings to keep himself up. "You and I have so much in common, believe me. You know if you actually allowed me to finish a sentence for once instead of giving me these senseless beatings, you might learn something!"

"You need to learn how to shut up!" Blu responded as he delivered to strikes to Max's faces.

"Someone needs to take a chill pill. Hahaha." Max chuckled and spread his wings out, allowing Blu to do what he felt he needed to do. "What are you waiting for? Come on! Do it then!"

Blu allowed his anger to take over and struck Max directly in his face, temporally blinding him. He curled his wings into fists and began a series of quick, focused attacks, striking fast as he struck Max from left to right across his face. His family watched from nearby, but none of them interfered. Max deserved the punishment he was receiving now.

Blu had lost count of how many times he had struck Max, but eventually, he was exhausted and leaned back. Max collapsed onto the ground, but despite the hits he had received, he acted as if none of that hurt him. Even worse, he seemed to have enjoyed it.

"Wow, you sure enjoy beating me." Max responded as he wiped away some blood dripping from his beak nostrils.

Blu grabbed Max by the throat yet again and proceeded to drag him towards the edge of the cliff. He jumped up and slammed Max against the ground at the edge of the cliff. Max was now laying right at the edge of the cliff with his head dangling off the cliff.

Max looked down at the ocean below, but merely grinned in response and shifted his attention towards Blu, who still had his throat gripped into his talon. Rather than trying to escape, Max encouraged Blu to continue. "Come on, Blu. Throw me off the cliff, kill me. You know it's what you want. It's the only way you're going to stop me. Come on, what are you waiting for, a speech? Come on! Throw me off!"

Blu wanted nothing more than to throw him off. No doubt the ocean below would kill him, and even if he survived the fall he would certainly drown. The thought of ending this once and for all was very temping, but his heart was telling him different.

He was not a killer and he did not want to turn into one now. Even after everything he went through, Blu had not killed anyone and did not intend to start now. He was better than that. Revenge was not going to close the book on everything he had witnessed in his life and ever encounter with the villains he had met.

Instead of giving Max the satisfaction he wanted, Blu flipped Max fully back onto the cliff and released his throat, refusing to kill him.

Max did not seem to appreciate this. He continued to try and entice Blu into killing him. "After everything I have done, you refuse to do what is necessary. I am really disappointed in you, Blu. Come on, kill me! You know it's what you want! Stop trying to hide it, we all know you want to do it. I killed you friend, kidnapped your children, and caused your mate to feel great pain, and now you-"

Max finally went silent when Blu knelt down and delivered one final powerful blow directly into Max's face, knocking him unconscious and finally subduing him for good. He inhaled a deep breath and cleared his mind from anger.

Blu would not deny that the thought of finishing off Max was very hard to turn away from. His mind told him to do it, but his heart told him different. He did the right thing. Justice was served and that's all that mattered.

Without saying anything further, Blu joined his family one more time and they shared an embrace together, relieved to finally be safe once and for all. It was over. Max and Butch were defeated, their children were defeated and the jungle was safe.

Little did Blu know that a mysterious figure was watching them from a nearby tree. The figure remained silent as he blended in with the shadows and eavesdropped on the family of blue macaws. He continued to watch them but when he caught attention of the military macaws flying towards them; he quietly disappeared into the shadows and slipped away unnoticed.

Lenny and the military macaws arrived with the captain beginning to issue out orders to his men. He approached Blu and Jewel to greet them. "Blu, Jewel, are you both alright?"

"We're fine..." Blu assured quietly. He was quietly mourning the death of Drako.

Lenny looked around and noticed his men picking up the unconscious Max. He seemed satisfied that the danger was over, however he could not help but feel guilty since he and his men should have arrived sooner. He noticed their injuries and offered them aid. "Come on; let's get you five cleaned up and well again."

Blu and Jewel could not agree more. They followed Lenny away from the cliffs and left the military macaws to wrap things up here.

* * *

It was over. Their enemies were defeated. Max was imprisoned, but Butch's whereabouts were currently unknown. After rescuing their children, Blu, Jewel and the kids proceeded back to their home where they hoped to put this bad day behind and live normally again.

Before heading back home, Jewel had taken the kids back to the city to pick up Jessica while Blu continued to their home to make sure everything was okay. Once he arrived, he could not be more relieved to be home at least.

The phone Max had left him was still lying inside of his hollow. Blu made a note to get rid of it soon. He prepared to get some rest while he waited for Jewel and the kids to return.

"Ahh." Blu sighed in relief and got down onto his back in the center of his nest, placing his wings behind the back of his head.

Before Blu could get to sleep, something on the wall of his home caught his attention. He jumped up out from his nest and noticed a white note had been placed on his wall by someone.

Curiously, Blu picked up the note in his talon and began to read its contents within his mind.

 _Congratulations Blu, you have defeated one villain, but I would not get comfortable if I were you. You're going to have to deal with another three of them soon._

Blu's eyes widened and he dropped the note in shock. Just when he thought it was over, he now has notes being left for him by someone warning him that he was going to encounter three other villains.

"Oh, no." Blu silently gasped and crunched up the note in his talon. He was going to have to put his peaceful life on hold for a while.

Whoever he faced next, Blu had to be prepared this time no matter what. Defeating Max and Butch was only the beginning.

* * *

 **That brings us to a close for this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. Drako has sacrificed himself to save everyone, Max is imprisoned and I bet you all thought the story was over? No, this is the only beginning. Stay tuned for chapter 10.**


	10. Chapter 10: seeking aid

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 10: seeking aid**

 **Hello everyone, we're back with the 10th chapter of Rise of the Zealots. In case any of you was confused to the title _Return of the blue macaws_ allow me to explain. Now I was originally going to write five different stories with each one revolving around one of the four main villains and then the final one being about the mysterious figure we saw in the prologue, but I was unable to find a way to expand them. For example, the story with Max and Butch was meant to be a lot longer than I hoped, but I was unable to think of a way to make it longer, the same goes for the other stories.**

 **That is why I thought it was best that I put all these parts into one story instead. Return of the blue macaws was the first part of the story, and now we are moving on to the second part which is _League of the Red Dragons_. I hoped I've cleared that up so everyone understands why the story with Max and Butch felt a little short.**

 **Anyway, I think I have spoken enough for one chapter. Here's chapter 10 and the beginning of the second part to the story. Enjoy.**

* * *

A couple of days had passed since the events of rescuing the blue macaw kids and defeated Max and Butch. Since then, Blu had become quite protective over his children and had rarely taken his sight off from them. Sure, he was protective of them on an everyday basis, but now he had become even more protective of them.

The only thing that had been on his mind these past couple of days was the message on note that he had discovered in his home. Three more villains were going to attack him. When they were going to attack was the question on his mind.

Blu was hardly prepared and almost died when he engaged combat with Butch. Unless he got prepared soon, then he was going to be in trouble when it came to facing these other villains. He needed to get himself prepared, he needed to train otherwise he was not going to stand a chance.

During early morning, Blu sat at the edge of his home, watching the sunrise in the distance. His family was still asleep at the moment. Blu was slightly surprised that his family could sleep that well after the kids were kidnapped and all of them could have died if it weren't for Drako saving them.

As a couple of silent moments went by, Jewel had woken up from her sleep and leaned up to see her mate sitting by the exit/entrance of their home. Curious to what he was thinking, Jewel got up from her nest and proceeded to join Blu.

"Morning." Jewel greeted as she took a seat beside him.

"Morning." Blu returned the greeting and leaned over to peck the side of her beak. "Sleep okay?"

"I slept fine. I'm just concerned about you." Jewel admitted with a somewhat concerned expression across her face.

"Why would you be concerned about me?" Blu asked, but deep down he knew the truth, he was just did not wish to admit it. He rubbed his wing against the back of his neck. "I'm fine."

"Blu, you're clearly stressing about the note you were left with the other day." Jewel explained as she placed her wing over him for comfort. "I know you're worried, and I am too, but you seem to forget that you are a hero, Blu. You're my hero. You saved all of us many times. I know you can do it again."

Blu felt encouraged by his mate's words and appreciated it deeply, but nevertheless, that still did not mean that this was going to make things better. "Thank you, Jewel, but you saw what happened when we fought Butch. He almost killed us. I have to get prepared otherwise...I...I don't what to imagine what will happen if-"

Jewel placed her wingtip upon Blu's beak to prevent her from speaking further. "I understand, Blu, but don't think that. You're not going to lose any of us, I promise. Now you need to go and talk to Captain Lenny about getting some training if you want to be prepared like you said."

"You're right, Jewel. I'll head there ASAP." Blu agreed with a nod. Before he left, he took Jewel's wing in his own to get her attention. "Jewel, if I'm going be to training then there is nowhere that I can protect you and the kids at the same time, but fortunately for us all, I made a little something for us during my free time here."

"You did?" Jewel questioned with a curios eyebrow raised. "What would that be?"

"Follow me." Blu smiled. He jumped down from their home and proceeded to descend towards the bottom of their tree.

Jewel smiled too and remembered to check on her children before following Blu. They were still asleep, but after last time, she did not wish to leave them on their own for too long.

As they reached the bottom of their home, Blu revealed a hatch covered in grass as camouflage, similar to the hideout he had built in the World of Darkness. He opened the hatch and jumped down inside, waiting for Jewel to follow him.

Jewel jumped down inside too and looked around, only to see nothing but darkness. "I can't see anything."

"Just looking for the switch." Blu responded while tapping his wing against the wall in search of the light switch. Once he located it, he flicked on the light and revealed their little hideout. "Ta-da!"

Jewel studied the area and was surprised to how similar it resembled the hideout they had in the World of Darkness. There was a couch in the center of the room, a table with some food and water stacked up, an armchair, and lights to keep the place lit, four doors that led into different rooms, all of which were in bird size. "Wow, I'm impressed."

"Just a little handyman work." Blu praised himself as he gestured his wings to the other rooms. "That room on the right as ours, the room at the front is for the kids, and the two doors on the left are for medical supplies and to bathe."

"This is great. How did you find the time to do all this?" Jewel inquired as she took a seat on the couch.

"Just took every moment of my free time to get this prepared." Blu explained, taking a seat beside his lovely mate. He took her wing in both of his own while looking into her eyes. "Jewel, I made this hideout for you and the kids to be safe. After what happened the other day, I don't want you or the kids to get hurt while I'm gone. Can you promise me that you and the kids will be safe while I'm gone?"

"Well I won't deny that I prefer a tree any day." Jewel admitted, but she raised a smile and agreed to Blu's advice. "I promise, Blu, we'll hide here until all this is over, but don't think that you're alone in all this. I am going to help you, one way or another."

Blu did not wish for Jewel to join him in his battle and wished she would remain safe, but if she honored his request, then he was going to do the same for her. "We'll take them together. Now let me show you around a little."

Blu proceeded to give Jewel a tour around the hideout and what to do in case of an emergency. There was a lock on the hatch to stop intruders getting in, but that was very unlikely considering that the hatch was camouflaged with the jungle and would be very difficult to see, even at close range.

"That's everything you need to know." Blu replied as he climbed out of the hideout and waited for Jewel to exit before closing the hatch behind her.

"I think me and the kids can manage while you're gone training." Jewel assured as she began to ascend back towards their home, Blu following closely. "You think you'll be going soon?"

"I will, but I want to say goodbye to the kids first." Blu answered before they reached their home and walked inside. "I'm not sure when I'll see them again."

"You'll be back before you know it." Jewel reassured, leaning forward to peck him on the side of his beak.

As a few moments went by, the kids had woken up from their peaceful sleep. Little did they know that this was going to be the last time they saw their father for a while. After explaining to their children that Blu was going away for a while, the kids shared their goodbyes with their family.

Blu shared a hug with all four of his children, embracing them close as cherished every possible moment he could with them. Rey, Azul, Crystal and Jessica all wished their father the best of luck simultaneously.

"Be safe, Dad."

"We'll miss you, Dad."

"Good luck, Dad."

"Don't get hurt, Daddy."

"I promise kids, I'll be okay. It'll be over before you know it." Blu assured them while he continued to hold them for a couple of more moments.

After sharing his final moments with his children for now, Blu released them from his embrace and prepared to leave. He and Jewel shared a goodbye too, sharing a hug along with a few second kiss.

"I love you." Jewel whispered as she leaned her head down against his chest.

"I love you too." Blu replied, nuzzling his head on top of her own.

With their goodbyes shared, Blu proceeded to turn away and prepared to depart. Before leaving, he turned back toward his family one more time before leaping out of his home and taking flight through the jungle of Rio de Janeiro.

Blu's first and possible last destination was the military macaw prison. The military were not martial-artists of course, but they were still capable of holding their own in combat. Unless there was some type of martial-arts schools around here, then they would have to do.

It did not take Blu too long to arrive at the military macaw base that was directly next door to the prison inside of the cliffs by the ocean. Blu arrived via the hole in the cliff where it was guarded by a few military macaws. Usually they did not let in civilians, but Blu was well known here.

"Hey it's Blu." one of the military macaws greeted.

"How you doing, Blu?" the second military macaw inquired.

"Not too good to be honest." Blu admitted, but he had no time to go into the details of the situation and needed to find Lenny as soon as possible. "It's a long story. Is the captain here? I need to speak with him, it's important."

"Yeah, he's in. I think he was with Raxos in the cafeteria area. I assume you know the layout by now?" the military macaw questioned. He got a mere nod in response from the blue macaw, but that was good enough for him. "Alright. Well, head on in."

The military macaws stood at the sides of the entrance/exit, allowing Blu entrance to their base. Blu thanked them as he walked inside, immediately heading for the cafeteria. If he remembered correctly, the cafeteria was located at the left side of the base.

Fortunately for Blu, he was correct. He located the cafeteria with ease and walked inside. Not too many military macaws were present (most of them more than likely working) and they seemed to be obvious to Blu's presence. Nevertheless, they continued eating in peace.

Blu located the captain speaking with Raxos on a table for themselves and proceeded to go and join them. He felt a little guilty interrupting, but with the situation at hand, he had to be prepared no matter what.

Lenny spoke before Blu could and was slightly surprised to see him back here so soon. "Hey Blu, back already?"

"I hope you're not thinking of joining the military." Raxos joked with a smile across his beak.

"Actually, you're not one-hundred percent wrong, Raxos." Blu replied as he took a seat beside Raxos and opposite of Lenny. "Captain, I have a problem. It's not over yet."

"What do you mean by that?" Lenny questioned, raising a curious eyebrow. Not over yet?

"Max and Butch weren't the only problem." Blu explained while he began to go into the details. "Someone left a note in my home, saying that three other villains are going to attack me too. I don't even know who they are! Long-story-short, I was unprepared when I fought Butch and I need to start training again before they arrive. Can you help me?"

Lenny appeared astonished by this sudden news and it was quite a bit to take in all at once. Nevertheless, he shrugged it off and responded. "I take it that there isn't a chance it's just someone playing a prank on you?"

"I wish that were true, but it isn't." Blu denied while shaking his head left to right. He placed his wings upon their table they were seated at. "I have three villains and the person who left this note for me in the first place to deal with. Can you help me?"

Lenny turned towards Raxos before answering since he usually turned towards him for advice. Raxos shrugged in response, leaving Lenny to come up with a decision himself. The truth was that he did not believe their military training was capable of turning Blu into the warrior he once was. "Blu, I appreciate you coming to us for help, but I don't believe our training will be enough to stop these villains of you. We will try our best to help you, but without knowing who these villains are, we can't watch everywhere at once."

Blu appeared disappointed by this and prepared to leave, but where would he go next? The other worlds were not an option anymore and where else did they teach training.

"That doesn't mean I'm not going to help." Lenny assured before Blu could leave. He kept his voice lower for the next part. "Blu, listen to my carefully because I'm only going to say this once. I think I know just the place where you can get the training you need."

"Really? Where!" Blu's hoped raised, but then he remembered to keep his voice down. "Sorry."

"It's a secret organizing known as the League of the Red Ninja." Lenny whispered as he looked left and right for a quick moment to make certain that no-one else was eavesdropping. "They can give you what you need, but be cautious, Blu. They don't exactly take kindly to strangers and only those who are worthy may join."

"I'll take that in mind." Blu noted with a nod in conformation. "Thank you. I better get doing now; I don't have another minute to waste. If I need your help, I'll find some way to tell you."

"Understood." Lenny nodded in agreement. "I'll have my men keep an eye out the best we can for anything suspicious. You better get going then. I would send someone with you, but-"

"They may suspect that I am not worthy or am a threat to them?" Blu corrected and understand why it was necessary to go alone. "I'll be fine. I better get going, thank you for the information."

With the information he had received, Blu proceeded to leave the cafeteria and began to make his way to the exit of the prison. This was not exactly the plan he had expected to follow, but nevertheless, it was as good as any. At least he hoped so. Who knows how dangerous these ninjas were?

Blu wished there was an alternative, but there was alternative option now. He remembered the coordinates Lenny had written down on a piece of paper while he was talking and remembered to dispose of them once he remembered where to go.

"Here goes nothing." Blu talked to himself as he took a deep breath and exited the prison. He bid the guards outside farewell for now and took flight to the sky, heading directly for the coordinates he had memorized.

* * *

The coordinates Blu had followed had taken him into a deep part of the jungle he had never been too before. Any further and it might have taken him to the amazon. He had never been to the amazon before, but thought it would have been nice to take his family there on vacation there one day.

But that was for another day. Right now there were pressing matters to attend to. Blu arrived at the coordinates and descended down into an open area in a walkway style. At the end of that bath was a large boulder that was shaped quite accurately.

Could it possibly by their temple or their home?

Curiously, Blu began to walk towards the large boulder while keeping his eye out for anything suspicious. This was a dark area and he could not help but feel as if he were being watched by something, or worse, someone.

This was definitely the right place. When Blu arrived closer down the path, he was startled when he heard a twig break behind him. He spun around swiftly and got himself in a combat pose, but his worries were at an ease when he saw that it was a mere frog jumping past.

"Whew." Blu breathed in relief and turned back towards the boulder, only to receive a powerful blow across his face. He was knocked down to the ground but had no time to waste in recovering. He got back onto his talons to see two mysterious birds attacking him.

They were obviously birds, but they were wearing black ninja overalls all across their bodies, leaving only their eyes and talons exposed. They were also wearing a red ninja belt along with a read ninja headband, both which had a red dragon symbol in the center.

"Who are you?" one of them hissed in a female voice. She took out a dragger from her belt and prepared to attack.

"Are with Amanda's clan? Answer us!" the second ninja ordered, but he was a male.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about!" Blu assured with his wings raised in the air. "I promise, I am not here for trouble. I don't know who Amanda is; I just came here looking for help!"

"You are an outside, none who are not worthy may enter the temple!" the female ninja warned him as she prepared to move closer if Blu did not cooperate with her. "Leave now before you will face the consequences!"

Blu was afraid of them and wanted nothing more than to run away, but running as not an option. He refused to listen to their orders and stood his ground. "No, I am not leaving. You claim that no outsides are welcome, yet here you are!"

"How dare you!" the female growled and charged directly towards Blu. She leaped into the air and performed a dragon kick, knocking Blu into a nearby tree. She placed her dagger back into her belt and approached him. "You should have listened to my warning, now you will pay for your foolishness!"

Without warning, the female ninja performed all types of different combos and martial-art skills against Blu, who tried his best to block or counter them, but she was too fast and he was unskillful. She pinned him against a tree and placed her wing against his throat.

"Give me a reason why I should not kill you right now?" the female ninja told Blu while the male ninja merely watched from nearby.

Blu groaned as he weakly placed his wings up to steady himself. He struggled to get his words out with her wing against his throat. "Because...Because...I don't have a reason, go ahead and kill me then, but know that there is evil coming and that with my death, you will make matters worse."

The female did not seem to believe him, but nevertheless, she did look hesitated to kill him. She flipped Blu to the ground and placed her talon against his throat, beginning to choke him and cut off his air. "The Grandmaster will decide your fate."

Blu groaned as he felt his oxygen supply being cut off, but nevertheless, did not give up. He slammed his wing against her talon a couple of times in an attempt to make her let go, but she was not easing up on him one bit. Before long, he passed out from the lack of oxygen, slipping off into unconsciousness.

With Blu subdued, the female ninja turned towards her partner while released Blu's throat. "It is not our position to decide whenever he lives or dies. We will take him inside and let Master Yoshi decide his fate."


	11. Chapter 11: initiation

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 11: initiation**

 **And we are back with chapter 11, ladies and gentlemen. Now I've been noticing some reviews recording hints of requests that I put other author's ocs into my story. I am afraid I will not be accepting any ocs from any author's and will only be using my own so please refrain from asking. Now that's cleared up, here's the next chapter.**

* * *

The last thing Blu had remembered before being knocked into submission was being attacked by one of the Red Dragon ninjas. Since then, he had seen nothing but darkness. However, he finally began to open his eyes after what felt like being asleep forever.

While his vision was clouded at the moment, he could hear muffled voices not too far away. He could hear the ninjas talking about him and what they should do with him. Maybe coming here was a mistake and he should have just found an alternative way.

"This is the outsider?"

"Yes Master Yoshi. We warned him to leave, but he refused to listen."

"Did you catch his name?"

"No master. We don't even know his species. He could be a new breed for all we know."

"What should we do with him, master?"

"...We'll wait until he comes around and then I will decide what we will do with him."

"Understood master."

As a couple of moments, Blu's eyes finally opened fully and he could see he was somewhere different. He was inside some kind of temple where torches were lit to keep the place lit. Surrounding him were the Red Dragon ninjas.

"Ow, my head." Blu groaned as he lifted himself up and rubbed his wing against the back of his head. He studied his surroundings one more time where he noticed he was locked in a cage that was hanging from a ceiling. "What the heck? How did I get in here?"

The Red Dragon ninjas noticed he was awake.

"Lower him down." one of the ninjas ordered.

Before Blu could question why they had captive like this, he was lowered down to the ground where a few ninjas were waiting for him along with their master who was hiding under a black robe that had red linings down the sleeves and belt while carrying a ninja staff. He looked quite smaller compared to the other ninjas.

The other ninjas moved to the left and right and respectfully bowed down to their master. He began to walk closer towards the cage where he removed his hood, revealing himself to be a Red-shouldered macaw.

"I do not know who you are, but I will ask questions and you will answer simple and short." the master told Blu while he sat down in front of him, crossing his wings together with his staff placed beside him. "Who are you?"

Blu decided to obey the master's commands for now. There was a still a chance this could work, all he needed to do was corporate with them for now. "My name is Blu."

""Blu"? An unusual name I admit, but that's not the point." the master replied as he went onto the next set of questions he had to ask in order to gain Blu's trust. "Why are you here, Blu?"

"I need your help." Blu explained, but rather than answer simple like they asked, he went into more detail. "I was told-"

"Ah, ah, simple answers." the master reminded him, interrupting Blu from his sentence. Once Blu was silent again, the master continued. "My help? Please explain why you would require my help."

Now that he had permission to speak again, Blu continued. "My children were kidnapped the other day. I saved them, but almost died in the process, and now I have found out that three other villains are going to attack me. I was unprepared the first time and I fear that without training, I am going to die and all of my family and friends will be hurt. I came here because I believe you can be the one to help me."

The master looked as if he were processing Blu's words carefully in his mind. There was silent from everyone at the moment as they fell silent and were unsure on what to say until the master was finished thinking. Blu hoped that his words were reason enough to convince the master to help him.

After a couple of tense moments had passed, the master stood up and beckoned for one of the ninjas to hand him something. At first, Blu had mistaken the object for a blade but was relieved to see it was just a key. The master opened the lock for Blu's cage and opened the door, allowing him to be free.

Blu seemed somewhat surprised, but nevertheless, he stood up and exited the cage, standing before the rest of the ninja clan. He looked down towards the master and was surprised to how small he was compared to him and the rest of the ninjas, but nevertheless, he did not say anything about it.

"Blu. I am Master Yoshi, leader of the Red Dragon clan." Yoshi introduced himself and offered Blu a talon shake.

Blu lifted his talon to shake his own. When Yoshi had got a hold of his talon, he caught Blu completely off guard by flipping him to the ground and rolling him onto his stomach. Yoshi jumped up and stood on Blu's back while holding his staff against the back of Blu's head.

"What was that for?" Blu inquired while his voice sounded somewhat muffled, possibly because of his face being pinned against the floor.

"I noticed the way you was looking at me." Yoshi answered with a small grin across his beak. He jumped off from Blu's back and allowed the blue macaw to stand up. "That was lesson one: never underestimate your opponent."

"Understood." Blu grumbled as he rubbed one of his wings against the other.

Yoshi shifted his attention towards the other ninjas for a moment, but he had his eyes focused on only one of them. "Alejandra, you claimed you were the one who subdued Blu?"

Alejandra stepped forward and knelt in front of her master, removing her mask in the process. Without her mask, she was revealed to be a Lear macaw around average age. "Yes Master Yoshi."

"Was he armed?" Yoshi inquired with a suspicious eyebrow raised. Clearly this was the first time he had to question Alejandra for her actions.

"Well...No, Master Yoshi." Alejandra admitted while she looked away for a moment.

"Was he attempting to fight back?" Yoshi asked a second question.

"No...Master Yoshi." Alejandra responded. She continued to avoid eye-contact with her master, fearing that she had dishonoured herself with her actions. "I...I shouldn't have done what I did. I was only trying to protect the clan. I apologize to you and to the blue macaw."

Blu could not help but feel sympathy for Alejandra. With her mask on and from Blu's point of view, it looked as if she were another monster, but unmasked, she was just another bird, the same as the rest of them here. He felt somewhat responsible since she wouldn't have attacked him if he had just walked away like she asked.

Yoshi sighed as he walked forward. Blu expected him to scold her, but to his surprise yet again, Yoshi had placed a comforting wing upon her shoulder as she looked into his eyes again. "Alejandra, I know your heart is in the right place, but you must remember to think before you act. Actions can have consequences. It is our duty to stop the evil and protect the innocent."

"I know, Master Yoshi." Alejandra admitted. She was well known for always allowing her instincts to take over rather than just stopping for a moment to think about things. "I am sorry."

"It's okay." Yoshi reassured as he beckoned for her to stand up. "Just go to your quarters and mediate for a while. We'll speak in private later."

Alejandra nodded and bowed in response. She placed her mask back over her head and proceeded to leave the main part of their temple towards her room to mediate. After she was gone, Yoshi shifted his attention back towards the possible new member of their clan.

"I apologize for her, Blu." Yoshi apologized as he beckoned for the other ninjas to leave their guarding position and do as they will for a while. "Alejandra had a rough past and that often clouds her judgment. She's a good student and a good friend nevertheless."

"It's okay." Blu assured, but deep down, he was still somewhat annoyed with her. Hopefully if he stayed he could get to know her better.

Now that they were alone, Yoshi proceeded to get back to the previous subject, the reason they were here in the first place. "As we were saying, you wish to join the Red Dragon clan, yes?"

Blu was about to answer immediately, but he stopped to think about it for a moment. If he was accepted into their clan, his life was going to change for a long time and it could be a long while before he saw his family again. For the sake of everyone here, this had to be done. "Yes. I wish to join the clan."

"Very well." Yoshi nodded and proceeded towards the end of the room they were in. "You may rest for a little while until the trails begin. Come and meet us at the training room at dawn. Do not be late."

Blu called out to him before he left. "Wait, where is the training room?"

"If you are a Red Dragon, you will allow fate to guide you." Yoshi responded as he almost left the room, leaving Blu all alone in this big empty room. He turned around and extended his wing out towards the two doors at the opposite end of the room. "If you change your mind, the door is right there. You may leave if you wish."

With that, Yoshi proceeded out of the room. Blu, now alone, looked back at the exit/entrance of the hidden temple and realized that this was going to be the only opportunity he had to turn around and leave. Once he began the trails, there was no going back.

Part of Blu wanted to leave, but another part of him wanted to stay. Blu knew that he could not go back and expect to face these other three villains alone without any guidance. With some hesitation, he walked towards the same direction Yoshi had gone through. The earlier he found this training room, the better.

As he exited out of the room, he groaned in frustration when there were multiple hallways going in different directions. This temple was like a maze and there definitively was not a map hanging on the wall. At first, he considered just running around until he found where he needed to go, but all that would achieve is proving he was clumsy and not worthy.

He remembered Yoshi's words about fate and closed his eyes, quietly beginning to mediate to himself. He concentrate hard while trying not to get frustrated, otherwise that may ruin his concentration. Fortunately, something was beginning to happen. _"Come on, Blu. You can do this. Just concentrate, have faith."_

Blu was not sure what had happened when he opened his eyes but now he knew what hallway to go down. Was this the fate that Yoshi was referring too? There was only one way to find out. Blu began to walk down the hallway, trusting his judgement to carry on in that direction.

Eventually, Blu arrived at another door and opened his way inside. There, sitting inside on a large training mat was Master Yoshi. This meant he was in the right place, unless of course he had accidentally gone into Yoshi's bedroom.

"You have arrived." Yoshi greeted and beckoned for Blu to take a seat. "Come and sit, Blu. We have much to discuss."

Blu closed the door behind him and sat on the same mat, sitting in a similar fashion to Yoshi. "I am ready."

"Good." Yoshi nodded. "Let the initiation begin."

As a few moments went by, the members of the Red Dragon clan joined Blu and Yoshi in the same room. All of the ninjas sat in a square circle around the room while Blu was on his knees in the center of the room with Yoshi standing in front of him.

Once silence filled the room, Yoshi began to speak and announced their new member of the clan. "Brothers, sisters, for a long time now we have kept the Red Dragon clan a secret from society. However, a lone outside has made his way here and has asked for our help. We have taken him in and offered him shelter, but now it is time to see if he is worthy of our trials."

Yoshi shifted his attention towards Blu and stood a couple of feet in front of the blue macaw. "Blu, you wish to become a member of our clan. What are your reasons for this? What do I seek?"

Blu lifted his head and turned to the left and then to the right, only to see the ninjas watching him and Yoshi in silence. There were a lot of reasons he wished to become one of them, but he kept his answer in short detail. "I seek to learn the ways to fight for justice, I seek to protect the innocent and I seek put fear into those who prey on the fearful."

Yoshi seemed satisfied with his answer. He raised his staff and placed it a few inches above Blu's head. "You wish to learn the ways of Shukokai? You are willing to do whatever it takes to protect those you love and stop the evil that is spread across our home? You are willing to work hard and become one of us?"

"...I am." Blu answered. Now with that answer, there truly was no going back now.

Yoshi smiled and gently tapped his staff against the sides of Blu's neck where his shoulders would be. He placed his staff down and beckoned for one of the ninjas to approach him. "You may stand, Blu."

Blu stood up (feeling somewhat relieved since he was not use to being crouched) and remained silent until spoken to. Another ninja had joined them while he was carrying a cushion with a white karate belt rested on top.

Yoshi took the white belt and presented it to Blu, offering it to him. "While training with us, you will progress up each rank in our clan. Each time you rank up, I will present you with a different belt. First you will wear the white belt, then the red belt, then the yellow belt, the orange belt, the green belt, the blue belt, the purple belt, the brown belt, and finally, the black belt. After you are rewarded the black belt, you will face one final challenge until you are ready to become a true ninja."

"And may I ask what that final challenge will be?" Blu inquired, but he had the feeling the final challenge was going to be remained a secret until the time came.

"That will remain to be a secret for now." Yoshi replied as he took a couple of steps back.

Blu unwrapped his new belt and tied it around his waist. Once he was certain it was secured, he respectfully bowed to Yoshi.

"Welcome to our clan, Blu." Yoshi greeted with a smile.

The other ninja members stood up and walked away in formation simultaneously now that the initiation was over, leaving only Blu and Yoshi remaining in the training room.

"Come Blu." Yoshi ordered. "There is much to do with little time. Let the training begin."

* * *

Now an official training member of the clan, it was time for training to begin. Until Blu could train properly, he had to build up some strength and speed. Yoshi instructed Blu to begin doing push-ups.

Blu groaned as he pushed his himself up with all of his might, but this was a lot tougher than it looked. First he had to do one-hundred push-ups, then one-hundred sit-ups, and then he had to go flying non-stop for a long time. "Ugh. Five...Six...Seven...Eight."

"You must focus, Blu." Yoshi instructed while he was studying him from nearby, his staff in his wing as usually. "If you lose concentration or be distracted so easily, your enemies will take advantage of this and try to kill you. They will not show pity or mercy."

"They wouldn't?" Blu questioned, but simultaneously, he lost his focus and collapsed down on his stomach. "Ow."

Yoshi chuckled slightly in response. "You lost focus and get distracted. Come on, start again from zero."

Blu grunted and began to start his push-ups again. This was going to be a long day until all this was over. If it weren't for the news of more villains arriving, then Blu probably would have given up before all of this even began. He was going to get through this as soon as possible.

After he was finished with his push-ups, Blu now began to do sit-ups instead. This time, however, he did have a little help from Master Yoshi.

While Blu was leaning up and down with his wings placed behind the back of his head, Yoshi was standing on his talons to keep him from moving.

"Nine...Ten...Eleven..." Blu groaned as he continued his sit-ups.

"I hope you are not getting tired, Blu." Yoshi replied while he was holding a small cup of water in his wing. He was using this technique to motivate Blu better. "If you finish your sit-ups under five minutes, I will allow you to drink this water."

"I'd rather have it now." Blu admitted, but the thought of having a drink of water had made him pick up the pace a little.

"When you are out there battling with your enemies, they will not allow you to take a water break. You must learn to move without water for a long time." Yoshi instructed while he took a sip of that water to entice Blu further. "Now if I were you, I would finish my sit-ups soon, otherwise all this water is going to be empty."

Blu only sighed in response and continued his sit-ups. Today was going to be a long day of training and many more of these days were to come.

* * *

 **That's the end of chapter 11, fellow readers. Blu has become a member of the Red Dragon clan and now he will begin his journey to becoming a true ninja. Chapter 12 coming soon.**


	12. Chapter 12: training begins

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 12: training begins**

 **We are back with the 12th chapter, ladies and gentlemen. We got some good feedback on the previous chapter, let's see if we can keep that going and in return, I'll try and bring out more chapters faster.**

* * *

After Blu was finished with getting himself into shape for a while, it was now time to do some actual martial-arts practice. Blu stood in the center of the training room as master Yoshi began to explain the next part of Blu's training while standing nearby.

"Before I can allow you to try with my other students, you will need to learn to strike, counter, and block." Yoshi explained as he gestured a wing to a combat dummy seated in front of Blu. "This here is what we call a Muk Yan Jong. This will allow you to practice your strength and your speed. You may begin when ready."

Blu inhaled a deep breath and prepared to engage combat with the Muk Yan Jong. Although it was mostly a wooden structure, certain areas had wooden pointed out that would spin whenever Blu struck it, allowing him to practice his dodging and parrying.

"This doesn't seem too difficult." Blu told himself as he got into his combat pose. He delivered a single strike to the Muk Yan Jong, but in the process, he caused one of the wooden arms to swing and hit him directly in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Master Yoshi appeared to be amused by this, but he hid his smile for now and continued to help Blu with his training. "Try again, Blu. You must focus on your opponent."

"Right. Focus." Blu agreed and got himself back up onto his talons. He stretched his wings and tried again while encouraging himself. "Come on, Blu, you can do this. You can do this. Just relax and focus. He-ya!"

Blu delivered two strikes to the Muk Yan Jong and was able to dodge a couple of its wooden attacks, but in the process, he still was not quick enough and was knocked around a couple of times by the wooden arms. This time, however, he was not knocked onto the ground.

Refusing to give up, Blu cracked his wings like fists and prepared one more time. He closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath.

"Concentrate Blu." Yoshi advised while he continued to watch and study the blue macaw's combat strategies. "Block it all distractions. If you show any sign of distraction, your enemies will use this to their advantage to beat you easily."

Blu processed Yoshi's words and prepared to try one more time. He raised his wings and delivered a few powerful strikes to the Muk Yan Jong while this time, he began dodging and countering the Muk Yan Jong's arms. In the process, he still continued to get hit a couple of times, but he did not lose his concentration and continued to push through.

After battling with the Muk Yan Jong for at least a moment, Blu blocked two of its attacks and leaped into the air, delivering a dragon kick to the dummy's face. The Muk Yan Jong tumbled down onto the ground with Blu landing onto his talons.

In the process, he hurt his talon slightly and began to hold it in his wings to nurse it. "Ow, ow, ow!"

"It seems you have hurt you talon there." Yoshi stated the obvious as he approached Blu who continued to hop around on one talon.

"I was hitting a wooden object." Blu stated the obvious. Once his talon was no longer in pain, he stood on both of his talons and awaited further instructions. "How did I do anyway?"

"If I am being honest, I am not impressed, Blu." Yoshi admitted, leaving a puzzled Blu standing before him. He began to point out in the flaws in Blu's techniques so far. "You lack focus and concentration. You allowed the Muk Yan Jong to attack you while you did not counter its attacks."

"You can't expect me to dodge every attack in my life." Blu responded with a slight frown, but he remained respectful to Master Yoshi and listened to his advice to avoid making any mistakes in the future.

"You are correct, but that doesn't mean you will allow it to happen. You will at least try to avoid your enemy's attacks. This is why you need focus." Yoshi explained while he walked around Blu in circles.

"I am focus, one-hundred percent." Blu assured with his wings placed upon his hips.

To prove that he was wrong, Yoshi lowered his staff and flipped through Blu's talons, causing him to trip over onto his back. Before he could get himself back up, Yoshi jumped up and landed on Blu's stomach and pinned his staff against Blu's neck.

"You need to focus on your surroundings; otherwise you are going to get hurt not only from your enemies, but from the environment around you." Yoshi explained. He moved his staff away from Blu's neck and jumped off from the blue macaw, allowing him to stand up again.

As Blu got back onto his talons a second time, he had unexpectedly noticed Yoshi attempting to trip him again with his staff. This time, however, Blu was prepared. He jumped over the staff and moved out of harm's way just in the nick of time.

"See? You can focus what your mind is focused on something important." Yoshi explained as he performed a big leap over to the other side of the training room to give Blu his space. "Let's keep practicing until you at least learn the basics of using the Muk Yan Jong."

Blu set up the Muk Yan Jong and began to continue his practice. It was going to take some time until he got the hang on using one of these, but with time and practice, he would achieve the level he was raising too. He just hoped he could accomplish it in time before these new villains had arrived.

* * *

It had taken a couple of hours until Blu was finally use to using the Muk Yan Jong. Now that he understood the basics of using one, it was time to move onto the next part of his training. They would come back to using the Muk Yan Jong later once Blu had mastered other skills.

Yoshi had escorted Blu into a dark room where there was not much light. It was surprising how well Yoshi was able to see considering he walked inside without effort while Blu had almost tripped over a couple of times. Time to learn another lesson.

Blu had been paying close attention to Master Yoshi as he spoke. In fact, he was concentrating a little too much, maybe too much that he was no longer paying attention to his surroundings. By the time Blu realized that this was another test, a ninja had leaped out of the shadows, but Blu was fortunate enough to jump out of the way and dodge their attack.

"Impressive. You are beginning to understand to mind your surroundings." Yoshi praised, but the training was far from over. He beckoned for the ninja to go back into the shadows until further instructions were ordered. "Please Blu, sit."

Blu looked cautious, but he sat down in front of Yoshi and crossed his talons together. Yoshi in return did the same.

"As a ninja, Blu, you will blend in with the shadows and keep out from plain sight. Darkness will be your ally." Yoshi instructed in his usual wisdom tone of voice. His words had reminded Blu of something that happened long ago, but the blue macaw did not think back into his past and paid attention to the present. "There will be times where you will be alone, trapped in a room filled with your enemies. The shadows can be your allow. You will hide in the darkness and pick off your enemies one by one. As long as you remain hidden, you will be safe."

Blu seemed to be slightly confused due to the puzzled expression across his face. "Master Yoshi, I can't see in here. How am I supposed to take down my enemies if I can't see them?"

"Your eyes may deceive you, but you can use your senses to your advantage." Yoshi explained, but his words did not look like they had given Blu the answer he was hoping to hear. "You will learn in time, Blu. Once you have been promoted from a white belt to a red belt, then you will begin to undertake more advance classes, but for now, we are sticking the basics. Now come, we will have a fully day ahead of us."

With this lesson over, Blu stood up and followed Master Yoshi through the temple to another part to continue Blu's training. Now that he was beginning to understand combat and stealth, it was now time to teach him about meditation and inner peace.

For this lesson, they were going outside of the temple. Together, the master and his student had gone into a hill-like area that was behind the temple. Blu had prepared to fly to the top, but Yoshi had instructed him to walk instead as part of his training.

Once they had reached the top of the hill, Yoshi sat in the center of the hill and crossed his talons together with his wings placed out and his eyes closed. Blu raised an eyebrow, but nevertheless, he sat down opposite of Yoshi and sat in a similar position, but kept his eyes open for now.

"Master Yoshi, why are we here?" Blu inquired while trying not to sound impatient or rude.

"Blu, you are filled with emotions that cloud your judgement and may cause consequences in the future." Yoshi began to explain while he continued to keep his eyes close. "You must learn to mediate and achieve inner peace."

"Inner peace?" Blu questioned. He strongly doubted that peace was the last thing on his mind right now, especially with these new villains. "Master Yoshi, I think-"

Yoshi placed one wingtip up to signal for Blu to remain silent. "Learning inner peace requires silence. Inner peace will allow the body to relax and for you to knowledge the understanding of keeping strong in the face of discord or stress. Begin your meditation Blu; allow the inner peace to free your mind from the effects of stress, anger, sadness, worry."

Blu was not sure if he could do that, but if this was to achieve his training, he would need to follow. He tapped two of his wingtips together on each wing and closed his eyes as he began to concentrate in silence. It was a little difficult to achieve peace considering the only thing that he could imagine was his family or friends being hurt in some way. It was the one thing he wanted to avoid.

Yoshi had opened his eyes and held his staff up in one wing while he studied Blu in his meditation pose. While only looking at Blu for a couple of seconds, he could immediately understand that Blu was not able to release his emotions yet and was keeping them close to him.

Blu began to tense that he could not find inner peace and opened his eyes, taking a gasp of air while doing so. He wiped his forehead and prepared to try a second time. "I'm sorry, Master Yoshi, but this is difficult for me to do. I can't release my emotions like I'm supposed to...It's difficult...Maybe...Maybe it was a mistake to come here."

If one of Yoshi's students had told him this, he would encourage them to keep trying, but while simultaneously offering them to leave if they wished. However, with Blu, there was something different about him, something he could not quite understand himself yet. Yoshi was not sure what it was yet, but he definitely did not wish Blu to leave unprepared.

"You must not give up, Blu." Yoshi encouraged him. "Inner peace can be difficult to achieve. You can't give up only after one try. It will take time, Blu, but in time, you will come to understand inner peace. Everyone in this clan has trouble achieving inner peace...Including me at one point in my life."

Blu's expression looked as if it changed into a surprised one. Yoshi was the master of this clan, yet he had just admitted that he had trouble achieving inner peace. He was the master of this clan, what could have possibly occurred in his life that had caused him to struggle with inner peace?

"What...Happened?" Blu asked, but he hoped that he was not being too pushy and had brought up something personal to Yoshi.

Yoshi remained silent for a moment or two. He ignored Blu's question and changed the subject, hinting that he did not wish to discuss it with the blue macaw. At least not yet. "It's a story for another day, Blu. Come, we have work to do."

Yoshi stood up and proceeded to walk down the hill and make his way back into the temple. Blu could not help but wonder what could have occurred in Yoshi's life that made him not wish to discuss it with him? As Yoshi just said "a story for another day". Blu hoped to hear this story one day and know the truth.

For now, he simply got out from his meditation position and followed Yoshi back into the temple.

* * *

To finish off with Blu's training today, Yoshi had arranged for Blu to practice combat with a one of Yoshi's lower ranked students. Blu was confused at first, considering that Yoshi had mentioned he should be at least a red belt before taking on any other student in combat.

"I thought I wasn't going to practice with others until I was the next rank up." Blu reminded Yoshi as he watched the ninja he was going to sparring with prepare to face him.

"I know, but I think that you may be ready to take on a couple of students." Yoshi explained. He offered Blu something that may give him the confidence to get through this. "If you can defeat this student, I will prompt you to the red belt rank."

Blu's expression brightened. "Really? This early?"

"That's correct." Yoshi nodded. "I do not usually organize sparing for white belts, but there is something rare about you, Blu, something unique that I cannot quite figure out. We will talk about that later, right now, let us see how you do...Begin!"

Blu and the unnamed ninja respectfully bowed towards each other until Yoshi had rang the gong in the room, declaring the sparring had begun. Blu got into his combat position as he and the ninja began to walk around each other in circle, both waiting for the other to strike first.

"What are you waiting for?" the ninja taunted Blu. "Come and get me."

Blu was about to charge, but that's when he remembered Yoshi's teachings. If he wanted to win this sparring match, he was going to have to think about this. He approached the ninja and pretended he was going to throw a strike, but instead, he performed a leg sweep and flipped the ninja to the ground.

The ninja groaned, but quickly jumped back onto his talons before he was declared beaten. He threw a couple of knife hand strikes towards Blu, who was able to dodge most of them, but did get hit a couple of times. When he was distracted, the ninja grabbed Blu's wing and flipped him over his shoulder and allowing him to land onto the ground.

Blu groaned slightly, but did not give up. He rolled around to gain some distance and got himself back up. He watched as the ninja threw a couple of more knife hand strikes. Blu grabbed his wing and performed a counter attack by bending his wing back into a wrong position, causing the ninja to groan in pain and lose focus.

While this was just a sparring match, Blu did his best to hurt him too much. He continued doing so until he pushed the ninja onto the ground and allowed him to fall.

Yoshi appeared to be neutral for now, considering he was unsure who was winning.

"Arg!" the ninja groaned and leaped back onto his talons. He jumped into the air and performed a leap kick towards Blu, who grabbed his talon and pulled him to the ground.

Before he could recover again, Blu pinned the ninja down onto his stomach and held one of his wings behind his back, forcing him to give up now that he could not continue moving.

"Okay! Okay!" the ninja cried out when he felt his wing in pain. "You win!"

Blu seemed satisfied and listened as the gong rang, declaring him the winner. He let go of the ninja's wing, but rather than just walk away, he offered his wing to the ninja as a sign of good will

The ninja seemed a little surprised, but accepted his wing and stood back up. The two bowed towards each other as Master Yoshi approached them.

"Congratulations Blu." Yoshi praised with a small smile. "You have won against a yellow belt."

"Thank you, Master Yoshi." Blu thanked, but he was curious to know if he made any flaws with his combat technique. "How did I do?"

"I admit that there were a couple of techniques you could have improved on, but nevertheless, you have defeated your opponent and even showed signs of compassion to him." Yoshi answered. He felt that Blu was ready to progress up the next rank. "I am impressed; Blu and I think that you are ready to wear the red belt."

Blu could not happier and prouder to accept the red belt. That was one rank up and many more to go.

Yoshi hoped away for a moment but returned before long and presented Blu the red belt. "Congratulations Blu, you are now a red belt. Now we can move onto the more advanced training."

"Thank you, Master Yoshi." Blu thanked a second time and removed his current white belt and replaced it with the red belt. He bowed down to Yoshi in respect soon after. "I am ready for the more advanced training."

"Excellent." Yoshi agreed, relieved to hear those words from the blue macaw. "Let us take a short break and continue. The training is far from over, Blu."

* * *

 **Blu's training has begun and he has many more lessons to learn before he is ready for future confrontations. Chapter 13 will be here very soon.**


	13. Chapter 13: rogue ninjas

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 13: rogue ninjas**

 **Hello to all the Rio fans of FanFiction. We are back with another chapter of the story. Now I bet some of you might think I'm focusing too much on Blu and putting in too many ocs, but other characters will be back soon.**

* * *

While Blu was off training at the temple, Jewel was in duty of keeping herself and her children safe in that hideout until Blu returned. The kids felt a little bored just sitting underground all day, but they understood that it was for their own safety to avoid being taken again.

Jewel kept herself occupied by reading a couple of books (it was not her usual type of activity to read books, but there was nothing better to do here) while the kids were playing a board game they had found in their room to keep them busy.

At one point, Jewel sighed as she put the book away for a moment and leaned back on the couch. She missed Blu deeply and wished she could see him, but for the sake of her entire family, she had to remain here until he returned. It had been three days since he had been gone, but to her, it felt like forever.

 _"I hope you're safe, Blu."_ Jewel thought to herself. She couldn't help but be concerned for Blu and hoped he was okay. Nevertheless, she had faith in Blu and counted on him to return any moment now.

* * *

During Blu's time at the temple, he had improved drastically on his training and was getting through the ranks surprisingly quicker than Yoshi's usual students. He was now a green belt, progressing almost halfway to through the ranks here.

Blu had mastered most of the training he had been learning, but he still needed to concentrate on his inner peace. That was not his strongest trait so far, but he was reaching his way there. Very slowly, of course, but in time, he would reach the level he needed to achieve.

During early morning, Blu had been escorted to the dark training room to practice his stealth again, but this time, he was going to face more than one student. He was going to be facing a total of four of them. This is where it was time for his teachings to become useful.

Master Yoshi sat at the end of the room and began to give Blu his instructions while the other ninjas got into position. "It is time for Blu to see if he has mastered the arts of stealth. However, I am going to make this a little more challenging. Blu, you will not have to take down my students to pass this test."

Blu sighed in relief but when Yoshi continued, he realized this was going to be a little more difficult.

"You will have to remain undetected instead." Yoshi instructed as he flipped his staff around and placed it beside him. "Your objective is simple: avoid my students in the room and get to me. Should you be detected, you fail. Begin!"

With the test begun, Blu swiftly attempted to disappear from plain sight. He grabbed a couple of smoke pellets left for him on a table and threw them to the ground, allowing the smoke to hide him from the ninjas. Now that he was out of sight, he flew up to the roof of the training room and perched on structures positioned at the top.

Now it was time to plan out his attack. Four enemies searching around the room for him. He had to slip past them and get to Master Yoshi without being seen. It was going to be difficult, but not impossible. This would have been easier if he was allowed to subdue the other ninjas.

"Search the room for him!" one of the ninjas called out. "Do not allow him to get past!"

Blu jumped to another railing to get a better position. He could have easily snuck behind Master Yoshi if it weren't for one of the ninjas patrolling around that area to guard him. He was going to have to move him out the way without being noticed.

Fortunately, he had an idea. Blu grabbed a small rock be located and threw it to the ground. The rock had caused a noise that distracted the ninja and caused him to go over and investigate, leaving Yoshi vulnerable.

 _"Alright!"_ Blu thought and prepared to dive down, but then he stopped himself when he realized this was not as easy as it seemed. He placed his wingtip to his chin and began to think. _"Master Yoshi said I cannot get detected, but he didn't exactly say that only the ninjas could see me. If Yoshi sees me too, will that count as a failure?"_

It was a strong possibility, one Blu did not wish to chance. He quietly flew to another structure just above Yoshi and slowly began to descend down. Yoshi had great hearing and if Blu made the slightest noise, there was a strong possibility that he would turn around and see him.

As Blu lowered himself to the ground, he landed carefully onto his talons and snuck behind Master Yoshi. Quick as a flash, he leaped forward and placed his wing above Yoshi's head. "I've got you." he announced.

Yoshi was aware of his presence, but only grinned in response. "Congratulations Blu. I was aware that you were behind me the entire time."

"You were?" Blu asked, raising one of his eyebrows. "If you knew I was there, why didn't you stop the test?"

"Because I didn't see you." Yoshi explained. Now that he had Blu's attention on him, he grabbed onto the blue macaw's wings and flipped him over his shoulder, landing him on his back. "You passed this test, but you still need to be mindful of your surroundings it seems."

Yoshi released his wing and allowed Blu to stand him. He clapped his wings and declared the training over and the lights were finally turned on. The ninjas who had taken part in the training exercise bowed to their master before being dismissed.

"Come Blu." Yoshi replied as he got up from his position. "Let us-"

Before Yoshi could continue, a ninja had run into the room while yelling out for his master's name. He ran as fast as his talons could carry him while panting heavily. "Master Yoshi! Master Yoshi! We're under attack!"

"Attack?!" Yoshi repeated. He did not seem to be fazed by this sudden news, hinting that this had happened before. Nevertheless, he grabbed his staff and followed the ninja through the temple. "Quickly, we must go and once!"

While Blu did not receive orders to join in, he followed Yoshi nevertheless to investigate what was happening. As the three of them hade master to get to the outside of the temple, the unnamed ninja began to explain the situation as they ran.

"Master Yoshi, we are being attacked by Amanda's faction!" the ninja explained as they almost reached the outside of the temple.

"Amanda..." Yoshi mumbled to himself and appeared to be surprised by this news. He had to keep his mind focused on the situation at hand before he could think about this properly. "Is she there?"

"No Master, her second-in-command is leading the attack." the ninja explained as they reached the outside of the temple.

Outside, another group of ninjas were engaging in combat with the Red Dragon clan. The enemy ninjas were wearing dark blue clothing with hints of darker blue on their overalls along with pieces of armor on their wings to serve as gauntlets. They were all wearing the same clothing, easily telling the difference between both clans.

"Quickly, we must stop them!" Yoshi instructed as he leaped into the battle.

Blu remained where he was for now and watched as the battle commended between both clans. It was difficult to tell who was winning at the moment, but Blu hoped the Red Dragon clan would refuse this situation before lives were lost in the attack.

In the meantime, Yoshi joined his students in battle and stood in a combat position as the enemy ninjas moved in to attack him.

"That's Master Yoshi!" one of them shouted, pointing his wing towards the small green macaw. "Get him!"

Numerous ninjas ran directly towards Yoshi and attacked him, but little did they know that they were messing with the wrong bird and were attacking someone out of their league. As each one of the ninjas attacked, Yoshi countered their attacks with his combat staff and knocked them away with his strength and speed.

Two ninjas attempted to grab him, but Yoshi performed a spin attack to knock them down when they surrounded him. Another ninja leaped down from the sky with his talon out in an attempt to dragon kick Yoshi. Unfortunately for him, Yoshi whacked him away with his staff.

Blu was surprised to how easily Yoshi was holding his own against these enemy ninjas. He didn't look like he needed help at all. Blu however, stepped into help when he heard nearby screaming.

He watched as one of Yoshi's students Alejandra engaged in combat with one of the enemy ninjas. She was the same ninja who had attacked Blu when he first arrived at the temple, mistaking him for an enemy. Now, however, she was in danger when she was completely unaware of an enemy ninja positioned on top of a tree, armed with a bow and arrow.

Blu gasped and attempted to warn her with a yell. "Alejandra, watch out!"

Alejandra heard his warning and gasped when she finally noticed the enemy archer. She attempted to leap out of the war, but the archer fired and an arrow pierced directly through her talon.

"Alejandra!" Blu shouted, leaping into the battle to help her while ignoring the danger of the archer.

"AHH!" she cried out in agony and clutched her wings against her injury. She used her free wing to crawl away, but the archer still had her within his sights and was getting another arrow out from his quiver.

Blu extended his wings and leaped up towards the archer who was currently unaware of the blue macaw's presence. As the archer placed his arrow onto his bow and aimed towards Alejandra, Blu zoomed directly towards him and tackled the ninja from his position.

Simultaneously, the ninja had fired his arrow, but missed his target completely. As they plummeted towards the ground, Blu and the ninja engaged in one-to-one combat. While Blu was not a true Red Dragon ninja yet, this enemy ninja seemed to be no match for Blu. While the two were close to the ground, they continued to strike and counter the other.

Blu delivered one more strike to the enemy ninja before pushing himself away. The ninja hit the ground with a sickening thud while Blu slowly descended himself to safety. The ninja was not dead, but he was too weak to continue attacking. He groaned as he moved around on the ground.

"That's one way of defeating someone." Blu talked to himself, but then shifted his attention towards the Alejandra who looked as if she was going to pass out from her injury. Blu made haste to go and help her before she lost too much blood.

"My talon!" Alejandra groaned as Blu finally came to her aid.

"Alejandra!" Blu spoke, kneeling down to help her. He moved her wing around from her injury and inspected her wound that looked serious. She required immediate medical attention. "I need to get you back to the temple!"

Alejandra nodded in agreement, trying to save her strength. "Okay. Help me; I don't think I can walk."

Blu took one of her wings and helped her stand onto her good talon. He placed his right wing over her and allowed her to lean on him. Alejandra in return, placed her left wing around Blu as she limped.

"Ready?" Blu asked, making certain that he had a good grip on her before they began walking. "Let's go."

Together, Blu began to assist Alejandra and escorted her back to the temple in the middle of the battle. Most of the enemy ninjas appeared to have been defeated, but they remaining ones continued to combat the Red Dragon clan, refusing to give up that easily.

While Blu attended to Alejandra, Yoshi had finished off a couple of more enemies. He spun his staff around his shoulder and prepared to face any more of them, but it seemed that they had won for now. However, there was one more enemy standing not too far from Yoshi.

His name was Joel; the second-in-command of this faction. He was wearing a ninja outfit similar to his clan, but the different was his had more armor attached to his torso and his outfit had hints of yellow around the mask and shoulders.

"Joel." Yoshi greeted coldly. He spun his staff around and prepared to take him on.

"Yoshi." Joel responded while positing his wing near his belt. He retrieved out a katana and spun it around in his wing, preparing to face off against the small green macaw.

"You continue to serve Amanda?" Yoshi inquired as they began to walk around the area in circles.

"Correct, but this was just a piece of what is to come." Joel warned. He lifted his katana into the air and charged towards Yoshi, performing a front flip as he leaped into the air. He landed where Yoshi was standing that caused his katana to get stuck into the ground.

"Without Amanda, you are nothing." Yoshi responded. His words seemed to anger Joel, who retrieved his katana and charged towards Yoshi a second time. Yoshi dodged his attacks and continued to leap around the area to confuse him.

"It will not be long until she is free." Joel warned. He swung his katana a few more times, but each one missed Yoshi. He was getting irritated that he could not hit him. "Stand still!

"Free?" Yoshi questioned. He remained where he was standing and used his staff to block Joel's katana attacks. "You lie, Joel. Amanda will never escape. She is immobilized."

"Is that a fact?" Joel questioned as he swung his katana towards Yoshi's talons, but the small green macaw jumped up and dodged. "Amanda will be free soon and then you, your precious clan will be destroyed. Amanda will make certain of that."

Yoshi appeared surprised that it almost caused him to lose his concentration. He leaped behind Joel and whacked his staff against back, knocking Joel forward. "I will not allow that to happen."

"Oh but it will." Joel responded. He violently began swinging his katana towards Yoshi who either dodged or blocked each attack. He continued doing so until Yoshi finally had enough of this.

Yoshi blocked one more of his katana attacks and kicked his katana out from his wing. He whacked his staff into Joel's talons to flip him to the ground and proceeded to jump onto his back. He flipped his staff around Joel's neck and began to choke him.

Joel groaned and grabbed the staff, attempting to pull the staff away enough for him to breath, but Yoshi was not easing up on him at all.

Yoshi wanted nothing more than to kill Joel for his actions. He continued holding his neck until Joel was on the verge of passing out and finally released him. He whacked his staff against Joel's head and warned him that next time, there would be no mercy.

"Get out of here." Yoshi ordered as he jumped off of his back. "If I catch any of your people here again, I will personally hunt you down and next time, I will not allow you to live."

Joel groaned and rubbed his throat. He began to run away with his people, but before he left, he turned around and stared coldly towards the green macaw. "There won't be a next time for you, Yoshi."

With that, the enemy ninjas flew away into the distance. Yoshi made haste to find two of his available students and gave them orders to follow. "You two, you must head to the military macaw prison immediately. There is no time to question, but you must make certain that Amanda is locked away. Go, now!"

"Yes, Master Yoshi!" both ninjas spoke simultaneously and bowed to their master in agreement. They made haste to take flight to the sky and set course directly for the military macaw prison.

Yoshi prayed that Joel was lying to him, but he had the feeling that he was not telling him false lies. He hoped that his students could confirm that she was still locked away in the prison and unable to escape. For now, he had to remain here and tend to the wounded.

While Yoshi had been engaged in combat with Joel, Blu had escorted an injured Alejandra back into the temple. He carefully set her down while he called out for help.

"I need a medic!" Blu shouted to no-one in particular.

A couple of medical ninjas hoped over towards them and attended to Alejandra's injury. Blu, seeing that he was no longer needed, prepared to leave to go and find Master Yoshi, but he stopped when Alejandra called out to him.

"Blu." Alejandra spoke up, reaching out weakly to him. "Thank you."

Blu smiled in response. "You're welcome. I hope you get well soon."

With Alejandra in safety, Blu proceeded to go and locate Yoshi. He found the master with ease coming into the temple, but by the expression across his face, he did not look like he was in a happy made that they had won the attack. What would have happened that upset him like this so deeply?

"Master Yoshi." Blu greeted, but the small green macaw walked past him and into the temple. Blu followed. "Is something wrong? You look troubled."

Yoshi sighed and beckoned for Blu to follow him somewhere private. They were making to Master Yoshi's quarters to talk in private. "Blu, I think it's time that you know."

"Know what?" Blu inquired, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"About Amanda." Yoshi answered. "It's time you know Blu, because I fear that she is going to be a danger to us all very soon."

* * *

 **And here we are at an end to another chapter, folks. Today we have met Joel and his rogue faction of ninjas and soon it is time to hear the tale of Amanda. Chapter 14 coming soon.**


	14. Chapter 14: Yoshi's past

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 14: Yoshi's past**

 **Hey, hey, we're back chapter 14, ladies and gentlemen. Now in case you missed one my previous author's note, there is a new voting poll on my profile related to this story. If you would like to check it out and vote, be my guest, but first, here's chapter 15.**

* * *

After the previous battle, the members of the Red Dragon were recovering from Joel and his faction of ninjas. Most of the ninjas came out of the battle unscathed and were no casualties, but a few were injured such as Alejandra. Other than that, they were going to make a recovery from the battle.

Unfortunately, if what Joel had said was true, then the battle was from over. Everyone with the exception of Blu had been aware of Amanda is, but the blue macaw had yet to find out, but today was the day he was going to know who this Amanda was and why she was a in danger to them all.

Blu and Yoshi sat together in Yoshi's room while the green macaw was preparing them some tea with plants and boiled water. Once tea was prepared for them both of them, Yoshi poured tea into two separate cups.

"Here." Yoshi said, handing Blu a small cup for him to drink. "Drink this tea."

"Thank you." Blu thanked as he accepted the tea into his talon. He took a small sip but decided to allow the tea to cool down for a while before drinking more.

There was silence for the next couple of moments as Yoshi tried to find the words to begin his story. It was a tragic event that had occurred many years ago and continued to haunt him to this very day. While he did want to keep this past to himself, Blu was a member of their clan now and he had the right to know.

"Blu." Yoshi began after taking a sip of his tea. "Do you remember when we were at the hill learning inner peace and I admitted that I had a problem achieving peace once?"

Blu merely nodded in response, remaining silent to allow Yoshi to tale his story.

"It all started a long time ago..." Yoshi trailed off and allowed his mind to look back into his past.

* * *

 _Fifteen years ago, a younger Yoshi was training his students simultaneously as they followed his instructions. All of the students moved in perfect formation, practicing their martial-arts as they continued to move only when Yoshi instructed them to._

"I was teaching my students when one of my former students had caught my attention."

 _As Yoshi continued his teachings, he turned around when one of his higher ranked students had caught his attention after running inside._

 _"Exo, what is it?" Yoshi inquired. He turned back towards his students and ordered them to stop for now until his return._

 _"Master Yoshi, you must come with me at once." Exo requested, but his words did not seem convince Yoshi what was so important. "Master, please."_

 _Yoshi was about to decline, but if it was so important that required him to halt his class for now, then he proceeded to follow Exo through the temple. Exo informed his master that there was no time to explain what had happened and ordered him to continue following him._

 _Finally, they reached the exit/entrance to the temple. Yoshi walked outside and looked confused to what the problem was. However, a small mumble caught his attention. He looked around until he noticed that someone lying on the ground. For a small bird, he certainly had bad eyesight._

 _Lying on the ground was a small baby female yellow macaw. She did not appear to be at least a couple of weeks old yet. Who could have left her here and most importantly, why? Yoshi knelt down to the baby who lifted her wings out towards him._

"I saw her laying there, Blu, at the front of my temple. She was just a baby, all alone with no-one to take care of her."

 _"Exo, where has this baby come from?" Yoshi asked his student._

 _"I have no idea, Master." Exo replied with a shrug. "I was just coming outside to pick up some food like you had instructed when I saw her there. There was no-one else around and I didn't know what to do."_

 _Yoshi did not respond and continued to watch the baby who smiled towards him and attempted to reach out to him again. Although he was confused, Yoshi smiled and carefully picked the baby up in his wings. For a small bird, he certainly had strength as he was able to pick her up without much effort._

 _"Exo, continue your duties." Yoshi instructed as he carried the baby back inside the temple. It was quite a cold day today and a good thing he found her when he did, otherwise she may not have survived out there at her young age. "I'll take care of her."_

 _"As you wish, Master." Exo replied and bowed respectfully. He left to go and attend to his duties._

 _In the meantime, Yoshi took this baby to his quarters to attend to her. She was squirming a little bit while giggling slightly. Nevertheless, Yoshi continued to hold her close as he reached his quarters and set her down in his nest._

 _"Hello there, little one." Yoshi greeted while he continued to smile. "Now where did you come from, hmm?"_

 _The baby had no idea what he was saying. Instead, she continued to giggle slightly as she remained seated in the center of Yoshi's bed. Yoshi had no idea how hungry she was, but he decided to feed her something in case she was hungry. He had no experience with taking care of children, but he knew that they needed to be fed at their young age with parent assistance._

 _Yoshi found a couple of grapes he had in his room and decided to feed her one. He sat beside the baby and offered her the beak, but he could not give it to her. He continued to hold the grape and slowly allowed her to eat. She seemed to be quite hungry because it looked as if she would have ate it all in one if it weren't for Yoshi._

 _After she was finished eating, the baby looked quite sleepy despite it being early morning still. Yoshi allowed the baby macaw to rest in his nest for a while. As her eyes were beginning to close, Yoshi began to stroke her head as he spoke to her, even while knowing she could not understand him._

 _"I don't think you have a name yet, little one." Yoshi spoke to her in a whispering tone. "I think we need to give you a name. Hmm...How about Amanda? Yes, I think Amanda suits you perfectly. Sleep well, Amanda. I promise to take care of you."_

"I named her Amanda, after my wife's name. She had passed away from an illness a couple of years before then...After I official gave her a name, that was when I made a decision that would change her life forever. I was going to adopt her, care for her, train her..."

* * *

 _As a couple of years had gone by, Amanda had grown into a small chick but she was the same size as Yoshi and would be taller than him in the future. In the training room, Amanda was practicing her martial-arts on a combat dummy. She performed all different type of techniques while Yoshi watched proudly nearby._

 _Amanda continued striking the dummy until she leaped up into the air and performed a flying kick, knocking the dummy quite some distance onto the other side of the room. Yoshi appeared surprised to how hard a child could hit, but nevertheless, he was proud._

 _Yoshi walked beside her and patted his wing against Amanda's shoulder, praising her on a job well done. So far, she was only an orange belt, but for someone of her age, she was doing incredible well. "Well done, Amanda. You're doing very well."_

 _"Thank you, Dad." Amanda thanked, but her expression appeared into a surprised one. She quickly changed what she had just said before Yoshi noticed. "I mean, thank you, Master Yoshi!"_

"She had called me 'Dad', Blu. That's when I began to realize that not only did I think of her as a daughter, but she thought of me as her father."

 _Yoshi, however, was aware of what she just said, but he did not mind, even though he felt it was a little strange. Instead of asking what she had just said, Yoshi smiled and congratulated her on a job well done._

* * *

 _A few more years had gone by and after long hard training; Amanda was now an official member of the Red Dragon clan. She was now in her adolescence age, now eight-years-old and reaching her adult age very soon._

"Amanda was an official member of the clan and I couldn't be prouder to have her with us. I was so proud of her and our bond was so strong that I truly did begin to think of her as the daughter I never had. I loved her, Blu, I cared for her. I thought everything was going to be perfect from now on. But then...Things began to change."

 _During one early afternoon, Yoshi had met with Amanda at the inner peace hill to discuss something. Yoshi was unaware of the purpose of this meeting, but soon she was going to find out._

 _Yoshi arrived at the inner peace hill where he met Amanda who was sitting at the top of the hill, sitting with his talons crossed. Yoshi joined her and sat in a similar position._

 _"Amanda, what is it you wish to speak with me about?" Yoshi inquired as he set his staff down beside him._

 _Amanda cleared her throat as she tried to put in her request into words. It took her a moment to answer, but eventually, she found the right words to put into an explanation. "Master, I've been in this clan for a very long time now. I am more than capable of learning the secret techniques yet you will deny teaching me. Why?"_

 _Yoshi had been expecting this question for quite some time now, but he had hoped he had more time to think about it. Nevertheless, he was now put in the position to answer her request. He struggled to tell her the truth without hurting her feelings. "Amanda, you are one of the best students and I agree that you are very capable of many skills, but I do not believe that you are ready to learn the secret techniques. Not yet at least."_

 _As Yoshi finished explaining, Amanda appeared to be surprised at her master's response, yet disappointed. She appeared to be somewhat angry, but she kept a cool head for now and calmly stood up. "With respect, Master, I am nine-years-old and it won't be long until I am an adult. I have been training with you since the day I learned to walk and fly, and you think that I am not ready to learn!?"_

 _"Amanda, please relax." Yoshi soothed. He had hoped for a calmer response, but this was expected._

 _Amanda began to demonstrate many of her martial-art skills to prove that she was ready. "I've been training until my bones had almost felt as if they were broke, I followed every instruction you taught me, and I achieved ranks higher than any other student and began learning at a younger age. I. Am. READY!"_

 _In anger, he delivered a kick to a nearby tree so powerful that it caused a couple of Brazil nuts hanging from the branches to fall down. She turned back towards her master while panting heavily, hoping that she had demonstrated her point._

 _Yoshi looked somewhat concerned, but he was confident that she was only blowing off steam. "Amanda, you are not thinking straight at the moment. Please, go to your quarters and calm down. I will speak with you later when training is over."_

 _Amanda attempted to intervene. "But Master-"_

 _"Now, Amanda." Yoshi ordered while trying to sound as calm as possible._

 _Amanda sighed and bowed to Yoshi before proceeding her way back into the temple. Yoshi remained at the hill for now and sat back down as he began to mediate. He hoped that Amanda did not do something rash and stupid such as trying to learn the techniques another way or breaking some things in anger. She just needed to cool off for a while._

"Amanda was angry with me, Blu, and I was upset that I had denied her request, but it was for her own good. If she had tried to learn at her young age, consequences would have occurred and she may have hurt someone or herself. I told her I would speak to her in private when the day was over. But I never got the chance to..."

* * *

 _Later that day when night time had arrived, Yoshi had finished training with his students for the day and instructed them all to go to their quarters and rest up for tomorrow. He stayed up a little later and proceeded to go and check on Amanda for that talk they were supposed to have._

 _As Yoshi made his way through the temple, he heard a couple of footsteps nearby. He raised his eyebrow and looked around, only to see nothing in the room. He called out to whoever was there. "It is time for bed; please go to your quarters."_

 _There was no more noise. Satisfied, Yoshi turned around and prepared to leave, but he was completely caught off guard when he was attacked from the front while he was turning around. Someone had delivered a direct kick to his face, knocking him quite a distance back._

 _Yoshi quickly recovered and prepared to defend himself, suspecting assassins had arrived to attack him. However, when he saw who had attacked him, he appeared shock. "A-A-Amanda?"_

 _Amanda growled and performed flips towards Yoshi. She began throwing kicks towards him, followed by a few knife hand strikes._

 _Yoshi was completely shocked that his student, his daughter was attacking him. Despite his shock, he used his staff to defend himself from her attacks. "Amanda! What are you doing!?"_

 _"I cannot believe I've been blinded by your lies for many years!" Amanda screamed while she continued to attack him, but was unable to land another hit in him yet._

 _"Blinded!?" Yoshi responded puzzled to what she was talking about. He dodged another one of her attacks and jumped onto a nearby support pillar. "What are you talking about?!"_

 _"Joel talked to me while I was in my quarters." Amanda explained. She leaped up to the air and chased Yoshi around the room for a while until they reached the center of the ground where she began to throw attacks a second time. "All my life, you're trained me to become your slave, to do your bidding! Now I see why you didn't teach me the secret techniques, you were afraid that I would become better than you!"_

 _Yoshi could not believe what he was hearing. The bird he cared for more than anything in the world was trying to attack him and possibly even trying to kill him for that matter. "Amanda, that's not true! I don't know what Joel is thinking, but he's lying to you! I am not trying to use you!"_

 _"Liar!" Amanda snapped and leaped into the air, performing a powerful fly kick. The impact was that powerful that it knocked Yoshi into the air._

 _Yoshi flew through the air like a ragdoll and impacted against the wall with a sickening thud. He dropped to the ground and landed onto his stomach. He leaned his head up to see Amanda approaching him to finish him off. "Amanda...Please."_

"I thought for certain I was going to die, but in all honesty, with someone I considered my daughter, I didn't feel like I wanted to live anymore because of that. A part of me thought that I might as well let her kill me. Without her, I didn't want to live anymore."

 _Amanda did not say anything more. She raised her talon to finish off her master for all the lies she believed he had been telling her during her entire life. As Amanda went for the finish blow, she froze and placed her talon back onto the ground._

 _She looked back and saw a sleeping dart had been fired into her back. Amanda pulled it out quickly, but the effects had already drained into her body and in moments, she had collapsed onto the ground._

 _Yoshi leaned up while holding a wing to his stomach. He looked up to his savior who ran over to help him. "Exo."_

 _"Master Yoshi, are you alright!?" Exo asked as he helped his master stand. He too appeared surprised when he was forced to fire a dart at one of his own. "Amanda...Was trying to..."_

 _Yoshi closed his eyes and watched in sadness at his fallen student. While he felt as if his talons were going to give out, there was still a danger. "Exo, get the students and find Joel, quickly! He was the one who convinced her to do this!"_

 _Exo nodded and made certain that Yoshi was able to stand before quickly departing to apprehend Joel. Yoshi, in the meantime, fell to his knees and began to shred a couple of years. What was he going to do with her? He...He couldn't keep her here any longer, she would try and attack him again, but his clan did not believe in killing._

 _"Amanda." Yoshi whispered as he placed his wing upon his adoptive daughter's head. He closed his eyes and waited as the other ninjas woke up to help him._

* * *

"We were unable to find Joel, he had already escaped. As for Amanda, we had her locked up deep within the military macaw prison. We found it a few days later that Joel had begun to rally up his own clan in hopes of defeating us and one day, freeing Amanda to battle beside him." Yoshi concluded his story and was now beginning to shred more tears. He rarely got upset, but to talk about his past like this hurt him.

Blu appeared to show sympathy towards Yoshi. No wonder he had trouble with inner peace himself. His adoptive daughter, someone who he had gave shelter, a home, food, cared for her and loved her had fallen down a dark path and tried to attack her own master.

Her own father.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Master Yoshi." Blu expressed his condolences. He could not imagine how he would feel if any of his family had turned on him and tried to kill him. He would be devastated if that were the case.

Yoshi continued weeping for a few moments until he finally dried his tears and could speak again. "I appreciate your concern, Blu. I loved her and wished there was a way to have her back, but...But I don't believe that there is a way to bring her back from the dark path. If what Joel said is true, we have to be prepared. If Amanda escapes...We have to prepare to do what is necessary."

Blu understood that Amanda would have to be stopped if she returned. Whenever Yoshi meant either subdue or destroy was unclear, but Blu hoped that there was a way for Amanda to be redeemed somehow.

"Come Blu." Yoshi responded as he stood up and grabbed his combat staff. "We have more training to do."

Blu nodded and followed Yoshi out of the quarters to continue his training together. If Amanda came back, they had to be prepared no matter what.

* * *

 **That's the end for chapter 14, ladies and gentlemen. We now have knowledge to whom Amanda is after hearing from Yoshi's back story. In case any of you forgot who Exo was, he was in my previous story and served as a martial-artist whom use to work for the Brotherhood. I thought it would have been cool to give him a small appearance and to show where he had received his training before he joined the Brotherhood. Chapter 15 will be here within a couple of days. Stay tuned.**


	15. Chapter 15: Amanda

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 15: Amanda**

 **Finally, the servers are back. Not sure if any of you were aware, but the servers were down for a while and for some strange reason, even though I could read stories, I couldn't access my account. Nevertheless, here's the next chapter which should have been here earlier. Now not only am I bringing you this chapter today, but I'm going to bring chapter 16 later on today. I can't give an exact time, but maybe around 4 hours from now. So keep your eyes out for it.**

* * *

The following day, the sun was beginning to descend and the night was beginning to take over. While Master Yoshi had sent two of his students to the military macaw prison to check on Amanda's status, they had not yet arrived but were not too far away now.

Meanwhile, deep within the prison directly at the bottom floor was another part of the prison that only contained one prisoner: Amanda. Since her capture years ago, she had been locked in this cell ever since. Due to her dangerous skills, they had made this floor to contain one prison level with one prison cell for only one prisoner.

The cell entrance/exit was an iron prison door that looked almost impossible to destroy with no gaps (with the exception of the key hole).

Despite her danger, she was still a bird and a bird needed to eat. A group of twenty military macaws marched downstairs to the bottom floor with one of them holding some food for their prisoner. This was the same protocol they had to repeat every day to make certain that Amanda was unable to escape.

One of the military macaws was merely a rookie, but he had been escorted down here as part of his training.

The commander of this team stepped forward while the rest of the military macaws got into position. They were armed with multiple weapons: swords, maces, and battle axes. They certainly were armed and prepared for the worse.

"Stay in formation and do not let your guard down under any circumstances." the commander ordered. He beckoned for one of the guards with the key to go ahead and open the door. The commander approached the rookie and began to give him a lecture. "Rookie, in that very cell right there is the most dangerous prisoner out of everyone you've seen here."

"Even more dangerous than that huge dark macaw with the one wing?" the rookie questioned while he looked slightly nervous.

"Bingo." the commander nodded. He caught a glimpse of the rookie's nervous expression and tried to reassure him that they were safe. "Relax rookie. That cell door is made of iron. Inside that cell is another cell bar and we have her locked in these special restraints. They're made out of the strongest metal known to bird. They're locked around her torso and talons. There is no way she can escape."

The commander's words of reassurance did not seem to ease the rookie's fears. Nevertheless, he continued with the procedure. "Okay, open up the cell!"

The guard nodded and placed the key inside the iron door. The door unlocked and the guard opened it while the military macaws caught themselves prepared. The guard carrying the food slowly marched inside towards the other cell. This cell was filled with darkness that made it difficult to see, even with the extra light coming through the door.

As the guard reached towards the second cell and could see inside, to his horror, Amanda was not there. Instead, only her restraints remained as evidence. The guard gasped and prepared to warn the others of her escape, but his throat was cut off when he felt a solid force grip against his throat. Before he was aware of what was happening, he was lifted into the air.

Outside, the other military macaws looked worried as the guard had taken a lot longer than usual. This only took thirty seconds at the most usually, but he had been in there for at least a moment and a half. What was taking him so long? If there was a problem, he would have warned them, wouldn't he?

The commander called out into the cell while the rookie beside him began to back away. "Trooper, is everything okay?"

There was silence from the cell. This indicated that something was wrong.

"You two." the commander said, directing his wingtip towards two military macaws. "Go in there and see what's wrong."

The military macaws tightened their grips onto their weapons and prepared to charge inside. As they were outside of the cell, the military macaw they were waiting for had been thrown outside of the cell. He knocked the other two military macaws down.

Before anyone could question what was happening, out from the darkness of the cell was Amanda. She leaped out of her cell at lightning speed while performed her martial-art skills. She was free and dangerous. How she had gotten free from her restraints after all these years was unclear, but questions would have to wait. Right now they had to take her down before she escaped the prison.

"She's free!" the rookie yelled in panic.

"Get her!" one of the military macaws ordered.

The military macaws charged towards her, armed with their weapons. As they got close, Amanda leaped into the air and delivered a split kick, knocking two of them onto the ground. She grabbed onto a military macaw's talon and spun him around in circles, knocking down the other military macaws around her.

The rookie was panicking further when he realized that their squad was unable to take her down. He prepared to run away in fear. "She's free! We have to get out of here!"

The overconfident commander, however, disagreed. He placed his wing out and pulled the rookie back. "No! You're not going anywhere and neither is she!" he yelled and ordered the remaining military macaws to attack her together. "Take her down!"

Amanda continued to dodge their attacks. She blocked a military macaw's mace attack and used her skills to disarm him, taking his weapon as her own. She spun whacked the mace against a couple of military macaws, knocking them unconscious and seriously injured.

The remaining military macaws swung their weapons towards Amanda, but she easily countered their attacks and knocked them down into submission. When only two of the remained, she placed her wings onto the back of both of their heads and slammed both of their heads together, knocking them unconscious.

Only the commander and the rookie remained. While the rookie looked terrified, the commander did not fear her.

To prove this, the commander threw down his sword and challenged Amanda into a one-on-one duel, just the two of them. "Do your worse." he taunted.

Amanda only grinned in response and was not fazed by his threats. She extended her wing and waved towards herself, challenging for the commander to try and defeat her. The commander charged directly towards Amanda and threw multiple hits towards her, but Amanda easily dodged each one.

Amanda used only one wing to block his attacks until she finally decided that she had enough of this child's play. When the commander threw another strike, she grabbed onto his wing and flipped him over her shoulder and onto the ground, landing him on his back.

To finish him off, Amanda snapped his wing out of place, causing the defenseless commander to cry out in agony. To end his suffer, she stomped onto his head and knocked him into submission. Now only the rookie remained.

Amanda sighed as she stretched out her wings and cracked different parts of her body. "Locked away for so long, I almost forgot how satisfying the feeling was of defeating your enemies. Too long I've been cramped in that cell. Now, I don't have time to waste. I got things to do."

Amanda prepared to make her away out of the prison, but the rookie picked up a sword and blocked her way. He was trembling in fear, his wings and talons were shaking. With her training, Amanda could tell that he was not going to do what was necessary.

Rather than subdue him like she had with the other military macaws, Amanda pushed his sword out of her way and proceeded to make her way out of this area and upstairs.

The second she was gone, the rookie ran towards an emergency bell that was stationed on every floor of the prison in case of an emergency. Without hesitation, he yanked the bell as hard as he could to indicate that there was a prisoner escaping. Worst of all, the most dangerous prisoner was escaping.

The other military macaws heard this and began to spread the word that Amanda was trying to escape. "Prisoner escaping! Amanda is escaping!" they all yelled to each other and took up defensive positions. There were hundreds of guards and only one prisoner trying to escape, but little did they know that they were in for the battle of their lives.

As Amanda reached from the bottom of the prison cell area towards the top, two military macaws pushed down some heavy boulders that had been attached to the ceiling as an emergency protocol for this very occasion. The rocks fell below and blocked off the entire bottom floor of the area, preventing any path from going from the bottom to the top.

Amanda was nowhere to be seen. Thinking that they had won, the two military macaws laughed in victory and whacked their weapons against the other. However, their moment of triumph was ruined when an alive and well Amanda leaped up and struck the two of them simultaneously before she continued making her way towards the prison exit.

While she reached the exit of the most dangerous prisoner's area, couple of military macaws closed the door in an attempt to stop her. Unfortunately, Amanda easily kicked the door down with ease and continued battling her way through.

Multiple military macaws, armed with weapons, charged towards Amanda without hesitation in an attempt to stop her from escaping. Driven by the fury of being locked away for so long, Amanda did not hesitate to brutally battle her way through the military macaws, handling them without breaking a sweat.

Amanda leaped up and kicked away three military macaws. Another military macaw raised his axe to strike her, but he was too slow and Amanda easily dodged. His axe got lodged into the ground, allowing Amanda to strike him directly in the face.

Two military macaws attempted to grab her, but she knocked both of them back and began to throw flying kicks towards the military macaws. She delivered one more powerful strike against a single military macaw.

The attack was so powerful that caused the military macaw to go flying from one side of the area to the other, knocking down the advancing military macaws. Now that she was finished with this area, Amanda proceeded towards the next floor. Four military macaws were waiting for.

"Here she comes." one of the military macaws warned.

Amanda flipped into the room and performed a split kick, knocking down two of them. She leaped into the air sides and grabbed one of the military macaws with her wings while grabbing the second one in her talons. She spun herself around in mid-air, spinning the two military macaws she had a grip on until she released them. The two were dazed from her attack before they were knocked into submission.

"This is too easy." Amanda spoke to herself while she watched more military macaws charge towards her.

The leading military macaw attempted to hit her with his mace, but he missed and hit the ground instead. To speed things up a little, Amanda disarmed the military macaw and took his mace before whacking it against his face, causing him to collapse after being struck with his own weapon.

Amanda whacked three more military macaws with her weapon, knocking them down with only one hit each time. A military macaw armed with an axe charged towards her, screaming out a battle cry with his weapon hung above his head. Amanda blocked his weapon with her mace and delivered two powerful kicks to his torso.

As more military macaws were advancing towards her, Amanda grabbed the military macaw by his talon and swung him around in circles for a few seconds. For someone who looked like an average macaw, she certainly had skill along with strength considering she was able to pick up a military macaw twice her size without effort.

She eventually let go of his talon and threw him towards the other military macaws, knocking them down like bowling pins. Now that she was finished with this level, it was time to proceed onto the final floor where her path to freedom remained.

Amanda reached the final floor where the exit/entrance to the prison was right there, gut unfortunately for her, more guards. A large group of military macaws guarded her way to freedom, armed with spears with Captain Lenny standing in the front and center of the group.

As Amanda marched her way towards the door, she stopped when she was halfway there. The many prisoners from their cells were watching, surprised that one prisoner had made it this far. Too bad for them that Amanda had no intension of releasing them.

"Amanda, you have nowhere to run." Lenny warned as he took out a sword from his belt and stood his ground with his men. "Surrender."

Amanda did not seem to be fazed by his threat. Furthermore, more guards arrived. A group of military macaws wearing protective body armor surrounded her; some of them were holding rope in an attempt to restrain her.

Despite being heavily outnumbered, Amanda merely rubbed her wingtips together and placed her other wing upon her hip. "Lenny, Lenny, Lenny. Do you really think that this prison could hold me forever? I've been locked away for six years, unable to move my wings or talons. I lied on the ground, carefully paying attention for the one day that I found my escape plan. Now I'm free and nothing is going to stop me from escaping, least of all...You."

Lenny only frowned in response and gave the order to attack. "Now!"

Amanda had expected for the armored military macaws to attack, but instead, they remained position. Confused only for a couple of seconds, Amanda had almost realized that she had stepped into a trap. A cage positioned on the celling dropped down, but Amanda was able to leap out of the way at the last second.

"Move in!" Lenny shouted before she recovered.

The armored military macaws charged towards Amanda simultaneously to capture her. Amanda used her martial-arts to counter-attack, but their armor made it difficult to inflict any damage to them. One of the military macaws grabbed her from behind and attempted to hold on her still. Amanda leaned her head backwards, whacking the military macaw directly in his beak that caused him to let go.

All of the military macaws gathered around Amanda simultaneously. Amanda continued to hold them back, but with the lack of space and their armor made it difficult for her to continue attacking.

The military macaws shouted suggestions to one another as they grabbed different parts of her body and held her down.

"Don't let her move!"

"Someone grab her talons!"

"Grab both of her wings!"

"Get her to the floor, stomach first!"

The military macaws grabbed onto Amanda's wings and held them against her back to prevent her from flying or attacking. Once her wings were restrained, they grabbed both of her talons to prevent her from kicking or clawing. Now that she could no longer continue her attack, they forced her onto the ground stomach first. She was defeated.

"We got her!" one of them announced in victory.

"Quick, bind her before she gets free!" a second military macaw suggested.

"She ain't going nowhere." a third military macaw responded, confident that it was over.

Lenny watched from the doors of the prison as his men took Amanda door. Before he could continue further orders, the doors to the prison opened. He turned around to see a military macaw walk inside along with two ninjas from the Red Dragon clan. What were they doing here?

"Sir, members of the Red Dragon clan are here for an inspection of prisoner 100." the military macaw announced. He looked over towards the chaos and seemed confused as to what was happening.

The two ninjas bowed respectfully to Lenny. Before they could explain their presence, they looked over towards the battle where the armored military macaws continued to restrain Amanda before she got free.

"Is that Amanda?" one of the ninjas inquired. He and his partner got into their combat pose, preparing to defend themselves and stop Amanda from escaping.

"Relax, the situation is under control." Lenny reassured with his wings placed out. "We have Amanda subdued. We can assure you that she will be locked away and this event will never occur again-"

Before Lenny could finish, he spun around when the armored military macaws had suddenly been thrown into the air simultaneously. Impossible. Amanda had summoned the strength to throw the entire military macaws away from here, and worst, they had failed to restrain her. She was free once again.

"She's free!" one of the military macaws shouted.

The two ninjas turned towards each other and nodded, telling one another that it was time to move in. They charged simultaneously towards Amanda and began to attack her. They attacked together and threw multiple hits towards Amanda, who blocked both of their attacks simultaneously.

"I remember this skill. I learned it at the age of six." Amanda told them while she continued dodging their attacks. She dodged their attacks and caused them to hit each other accidental. Once they were dazed, she grabbed both ninjas and threw them towards the military macaws guarding her way out.

Lenny dodged the falling ninjas and prepared for battle. "Close the door, now! Everyone, take up formation!"

Amanda charged towards the military macaws and landed directly in between them with a front flip. She grabbed onto one of their spears and took it off from him before using it to knock away the military macaws.

One by one, every military macaw fell until they could no longer get up and continue the battle. As Amanda dispatched off the last military macaw, only Captain Lenny remained.

"You...You won't get away with this." Lenny told Amanda weakly. He had taken a few blows from her attacks and struggled to keep his balance.

Amanda only grinned in response and approached him. She leaped up on top of him forced Lenny onto the ground. She proceeded to lay down behind him and placed both of her talons around Lenny's neck in a tight hold.

Lenny groaned and gripped onto his talons with his wings, trying to pry them free, but she was not easing up on him.

"I told you that there was nothing to stop me from escaping." Amanda reminded as she tightened her grip on him. "I could easily snap your neck right now without hesitation."

Lenny continued to groan and tried to ease up her grip, but it was hopeless. Amanda tightened her grip to the max, but rather than killing Lenny, she put him to sleep. Why she spared him she did not know, but she had no desire to care. Right now, she had more important things to do.

Amanda stood up and approached one of the ninjas sent by Yoshi. She gripped his throat and pulled off his mask, revealing him to be a scarlet macaw. "Yoshi sends his regards. I'm glad to see he still cares. Don't worry; I'm going to see him soon."

"Traitor!" the ninja spat out.

Amanda only grinned in response and knocked her talon against his head, putting him to sleep. With the military macaws subdued and her freedom right outside, Amanda exited the prison and leaped out of the cliffs, taking flight for the first time in years. She had almost forgotten what fresh air tastes like. Being in prison for so long made her forget a lot of things in life.

The first priority on her mind was to find Joel and his faction of rouge ninjas and then she was going back to the temple, and finally, finish what she had been dreaming to do for many years...

Put an end to Yoshi.

* * *

 **Chapter 15 is completed, ladies and gentlemen. Amanda has escaped from prison and no doubt she will be going to take down her former mentor soon. Stay tuned for chapter 16 which will be coming later to die.**


	16. Chapter 16: the final challenge

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 16: the final challenge**

 **Just like I said in the previous chapter, we are back with chapter 16. Now while I was waiting for the servers to come back online, I also begun writing chapter 17. I'll make you all a deal: if we can get to 10 reviews, I'll update tomorrow. Deal?**

* * *

After the failed attack on Yoshi's temple, the rogue ninja faction was forced to flee and retreat to their hideout in an area of the jungle that was hidden from the Red Dragon clan. When morning had arrived and everyone was rested, their leader, Joel, began to give them a lecture as he marched around the area with his people watching in silent.

"We cannot keep up these tasks any further!" Joel explained while he threw his wing down in anger. "For years we've been launching these attacks to the temple, and what have we achieved? Nothing! We have never even got close to the temple, let alone get inside it. I'm tired of these games! We have to launch another attack again, and this time, get them for good. I want to win!"

The ninjas remained silent and turned towards one another for an answer, but no-one seemed to have a response. Eventfully, one rogue ninja spoke up.

"Joel, we understand that you're angry, but we can we do?" one of the ninjas stated the obvious while he was spinning a knife on his talon. "They clearly outnumber us and without Amanda in our team, we never really stood a chance."

Joel went to raise his voice, but stopped when he stopped to think that the ninja had a point. "Very well, but we must do something. We have had no status from our spy in the military macaw prison. Maybe we'll just have to wait it out for now."

"Or maybe we could try a different solution."

Joel gasped when all too familiar face spoke up. He and the rest of their clan turned around where a familiar yellow macaw began to perform flips down from a tree. "Amanda! You're free!"

"That's right." Amanda responded. She performed a back flip in front of the clan and raised her wings into the air. She approached Joel and placed her wing against the side of his face. "Joel, you've gotten big since I last you."

"I could say the same about you." Joel agreed with a nod. "How did you get out?"

"Let's just say I had my ways." Amanda replied. She decided to keep her escape method to herself for now and skipped straight to the point. "Now that I'm back, I believe that we have some work to do."

"That's right." Joel confirmed. He began to explain the events that have occurred during Amanda's absence. "We have been trying to attack the Red Dragon temple for quite some time now, but without you in our team, it's been difficult. We haven't been able to even get near the temple, but with your help, I believe that we can do it."

"Then we better get training." Amanda suggested, but before they continued further, she approached one of the many ninjas around the area and placed a wingtip against his chest. "Hmm, I like these robe designs. Think I could get one in my size with a unique design?"

"No problem." Joel assured as he turned towards one of the ninjas and clicked his wingtips. "I'll have our tailor create one for you."

"Good. In the meantime, let us get training." Amanda suggested while she jumped towards the center of the area with the rogue ninjas moving in formation. "The Red Dragon clan knows that I've escaped and it won't be long until they warn Yoshi. Now, let's begin."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Red Dragon clan temple, Blu was continuing his training with Master Yoshi. Since the events that had occurred the previous day, Yoshi was training Blu harder than usually to better get him prepared. Yoshi was proud to say that Blu was doing extremely well in the progress ranks and was now a brown belt. Not long to go now.

For their next test, it was time to do some more sparring. Once a few ninjas had arrived, the training was about to begin. They were all lower ranked compared to Blu, but they were all still trained and skilled martial-artists, capable of holding their own in an attack.

Yoshi watched as the four ninjas prepared themselves for sparring with Blu. Once all was prepared, he allowed them to start. "Begin."

Blu raised his wings in defense and prepared himself. As the ninjas charged towards him, he remembered Yoshi's teachings of allowing your enemy to waste his energy and use his own strength against him. That's what Blu was going to down to win this sparring.

A ninja charged towards Blu and went to strike him. Blu dodged and grabbed his wing before flipping the ninja over his shoulder. Once he was down, two more ninjas charged towards him simultaneously. Blu dodged their attack and countered both of them at the same time, knocking one of the down while picking the other ninja up and throwing him to the other side of the training room.

The first ninja grabbed Blu from behind and attempted to hold him still while the other ninja attacked. Blu whacked his wings back against the ninja's stomach, causing him to let go. He jumped around and kicked the ninja down before he could recover, subduing him for good.

The four ninja performed a dragon kick towards Blu, who caught his talon and slammed him to the ground. This ninja, however, was not willing to give up so easily. He leaped onto his talons and threw a few knife hand strikes towards Blu, who began to dodge each one.

When one more hit was thrown towards him, Blu gripped onto his wing before flipping his talon against the ninja's leg, causing him to fall down onto his back. Before he got the opportunity to recover, Blu placed himself on top of the ninja who closed his eyes in fear, assuming that Blu was going to continue.

Blu, however, had more honor than that and every here knew it. This was just a test to see if he remembered that. He was not going to strike down someone who could just hit back.

"Finished." Yoshi announced, declaring the sparring was over for today.

Blu stood up and offered his wing to the ninja. The other student accepted his wing and stood back up. Blu and the four students bowed respectfully towards each other before standing in formation for Master Yoshi.

Yoshi had been studying Blu each time he had taken part in training. Yoshi was proud to say that Blu was making excellent progress. His combat style was perfect, his stealth was perfect, but there was one skill he had not yet mastered that they needed to train on soon.

Yoshi hoped down from his staff and approached Blu, who was kneeling down in respect. He placed his wing upon the blue macaw, praising him on another job well down. "Very good, Blu. You have mastered your fighting style, your ability to counter and use enemy's strength against them. Congratulations. Only two more ranks before you can become a true member of our clan."

"Thank you, Master Yoshi." Blu thanked with his head lowered.

"Come Blu. We need to take a walk." Yoshi told him. In the meantime, he allowed his other students to do as they wish for a while. "As for the rest of you, you are dismissed. You may leave."

The four ninjas bowed respectfully and left the training room. Yoshi began to walk towards the back outdoors of the temple with Blu following him. That's where the inner peace hill was located. It seems that it was time to do some more meditation for a while.

As they were walking through the temple towards the inner peace hill, Yoshi began to talk to Blu about his status so far. "While you have mastered many of your skills, I am afraid that your inner peace is not going well so far."

Blu had the feeling that Yoshi was going to bring this up. "Master Yoshi, I am trying to mediate the best I can, but it's too difficult."

"It may be difficult, but not impossible." Yoshi assured him.

By now they had reached the outside of the temple and proceeded towards the top of the hill to begin their meditation. Once they were at the top, Blu and Yoshi sat opposite of one another with their legs crossed.

There was an awkward silence between the two for a moment as both were unsure what to say or what to do next. Yoshi was hoping that Blu would have said something by now, but there was silence. Meanwhile, Blu had been hoping Yoshi would have said something as advice for his training.

"Blu, there is something I must ask you." Yoshi finally spoke up, ending their long awkward silence. "You trouble with your medication because you struggle to release your emotions. Tell me, what is it that you fear? I can sense that it is not anger, not sadness, but fear that clouds your judgment."

Blu sighed and realized that there was no avoiding the question. He answered with the truth, hoping it would help him with his meditation. "I fear for my family and friends. So much has happened to all of us during a year or two ago. I fear that there would get hurt. I love them, I care for all of them so much and the last thing that I want is to lose them."

Yoshi was beginning to understand, but he needed further details. "I understand that, Blu, and I know what I am about to ask you will be difficult, but please, tell me of an incident that made you the most fearful for your family and friends."

Blu thought back to the events six months prior when his mate had been hurt from a battle. "Jewel...My wife...She was hurt during a battle with these birds from another world. Her wing was damaged and both of her talons were broken. At first, I feared that she would never recover, but fortunately, she did. I...I promised her that I would never let anything happen to her again, but I'm worried about breaking that promise. Without Jewel...I don't think I would want to continue living."

For saying this, Yoshi had whacked his staff against Blu's head as punishment.

"Ow!" Blu winced and rubbed the top of his head. "What was that for?"

"Blu, you must not speak like that." Yoshi told him as he placed his staff back down beside him. "You care for your wife, I understand that, but imagine if she was to one day die and you didn't want to continue living, what would become of your children."

Blu had not thought about. He could not imagine how his children would feel if they lost both of their parents and were orphaned. It was hard enough to lose someone as an adult, let alone for a kid to lose someone. "I...I guess I didn't think of that. My...My children...I love them so much."

"That is why you must keep going if you were to lose your wife. For them." Yoshi responded in a fatherly-figure tone. He rarely used this tone with his other students. "Now who else is it that you care for? Do you have any other family?"

"Not biological, but I do have close friends that I consider family." Blu answered while he began to think about his friends and how close he had become with them since he had known them. "There's a toucan family named Rafael and Eva. They had eighteen children. I've always locked up to them as an older brother, older sister, and nephews and nieces."

Yoshi nodded and beckoned for Blu to continue. "Is there anyone else?"

"A canary and a cardinal named Nico and Pedro. They were the first birds I befriended when I first came to Rio de Janeiro. I've looked up to them as brothers." Blu answered. He continued to list down more his friends. "There was Jewel's friend Rico. They grew up together since they were kids. Rico was a close friend of mine too and like a brother, but he's gone now...He died more than a year ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Blu." Yoshi gave his condolences. He felt that he had enough information he needed and allowed Blu to stop if he wanted to. "You may stop now."

"Wait, there's one more." Blu responded. He concluded his story with his best friend in the whole world. "I grew up with a human named Linda for fifteen years. She was my best friends. She gave me love, a home, kindness, and protected me no matter what. Without Linda...I wouldn't know what to do. She lives in Rio now with her husband Tulio. That's pretty much everyone who I know as close friends."

Yoshi seemed to understand why Blu was struggling with his mediating now. All he needed to do was release his fear and allow peace to flow through his mind. "You are afraid of losing them, Blu, but by letting go of that fear and finding inner peace, you can achieve anything. Just calm your mind and let go of all emotions."

Blu merely nodded in response and closed his eyes with his wingtips placed together. He quietly began to try and release his fear like Yoshi had instructed, but it was difficult to do when three villains were going to arrive soon. He had no idea when and that's what made him nervous.

That was exactly helping so he began to calm down and try again. Quietly mediating, Blu began to slowly release the fear that was preventing him from achieving a black belt. As a couple of moments went by, Blu began to see peaceful things in his mind while he kept his eyes closed.

He could see himself, Jewel and the kids with other blue macaws somewhat far into the jungle of Rio de Janeiro. The amazon. Everything looked so peaceful and perfect. Is this what inner peace was? If it was, Blu was not complaining and felt as if he could stay like this all day.

After a few moments of meditating, Blu breathed in relaxation and slowly opened his eyes to see Master Yoshi watching proudly. He could tell that Blu had achieved what he needed to do.

"Master Yoshi." Blu spoke up, declaring the good news. "I think I have found inner peace."

Yoshi smiled in response. "Excellent Blu. I knew that you had it in you. All you needed to do was let go and clear your mind of bad thoughts. I'm proud of you. Congratulations Blu, you have achieved another step in your training. Please, follow me to the initiation room. We have something to do."

The two macaws got up from their positions and proceeded inside of the temple towards the initiation room. Along the way, Yoshi had announced an important event and instructed all of his students to arrive at the initiation room right at midday. This must have been important if everyone was to arrive there on time. What was Yoshi planning?

Blu would find out soon. Until then, Yoshi had ordered Blu to rest up for a little while, suggesting that Blu was going to need the energy. He ordered Blu to meet him at the initiation room at midday with the other ninjas.

* * *

Midday had arrived. Yoshi stood in the center of the initiation room with Blu standing before him while the entire clan of the Red Dragon ninjas was gathered around in a square circle around the room, sitting patiently in silence.

Once Yoshi had made certain everyone had arrived, he began to announce the arrival of a new member in their clan. "My fellow students, my brothers, my sisters. Days ago, we took this blue macaw into our clan to train him in the way of Shukokai. We have trained him, gave him a home, and I am proud to say that Blu has progressed from the ranks of a white belt to a black belt. Congratulations Blu."

"Thank you, Master Yoshi." Blu thanked with a smile across his beak. Truth be told, he never thought he would have trained through the ranks in such a short time, but here he was.

Yoshi picked up the black belt from a cushion and presented it to Blu.

Blu gratefully accepted the belt and removed the current belt he was wearing. He tied the back belt around his waist and bowed respectfully towards Master Yoshi.

"Well done on achieving this rank, Blu." Yoshi praised, but now it was time for the final challenge. "Blu, when you first joined our ranks, I mentioned that there would be one final challenge until you could truly become a Red Dragon ninja. Now it is time for you to take that challenge. Are you willing?"

Blu had no idea what this challenge was as it remained a secret, but he had come this far and there was no turning back now. "I am willing to take on the final challenge."

"Good." Yoshi replied as he took a few steps and beckoned for the ninjas to stand up and move all the way to the ends of the rooms.

Blu seemed puzzled as to what was happening.

"Blu, for your final challenge, you will face one opponent in martial-arts." Yoshi announced with a slight grin across his beak. He spread out his wings and took a few steps back. "Me. In order to become a true ninja, you must defeat me in combat."

Blu seemed surprised that the final challenge was Yoshi. He was expecting to battle their best warrior or a large macaw. He would not deny that he was nervous about engaging Yoshi in combat considering how fast and skillful the smaller macaw was. But for the sake of survival, it had to be done. "I am ready to face you, Master Yoshi."

"Good." Yoshi grinned and prepared himself. A nearby gong was rung by a ninja, declaring the battle had begun. "Let the battle begin."

* * *

 **And that's chapter 16 come to an end with a little bit of a cliffhanger. The final challenge has arrived and now it is time for Blu to face Yoshi in combat to complete his training. Join them in the duel in chapter 17 coming soon which could be tomorrow if we get to 10 reviews.**


	17. Chapter 17: training completed

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 17: training complete**

 **Alright, we're back with chapter 17. You know, looking back, it's hard to believe that Rio 2 has been released for more than a year now. How time certainly does seem to fly. I know that seems unrelated to this story, but I just thought I'd point that out is all. I certainly hope we will see the franchise continue with a third movie. Until then, we're here to read Fanfics and please continue by reading chapter 17, and don't forgot to let me know what you're liking about the story with reviews. After all, it's all about you fans.**

* * *

The final test was here. It was time for Blu to become a true ninja, once and for all. Defeating Yoshi was not going to be an easy task considering how many years the smaller macaw had of training. Nevertheless, there was no backing down now. When Yoshi had declared the battle had begun, a nearby ninja had ringed the gong to declare the battle fully commenced.

Blu raised his wings in defense while Yoshi merely stood there with his staff in his hand as if he was not even trying to battle. Quick as a flash, Blu began his attack, throwing a few karate strikes. Yoshi blocked each one and leaped behind Blu and slamming his staff against his back, knocking Blu a couple of feet forward.

"You're going to have to be faster than that, Blu." Yoshi suggested with a grin. For once in a long time, Yoshi decided to drop his staff and engage Blu wing to wing, just how it should be.

Blu acknowledged this suggestion and positioned himself back in the correct position. He concentrated and remembered Yoshi's teachings of confusing your enemy and using his strength against them. "Did you know that there are over forty extant species of birds who can't fly?"

Yoshi raised an eyebrow, confused to what Blu was talking about. While he was temporally distracted, Blu began to attack and Yoshi barely had the time to counter. He was able to parry a few of Blu's hits, but due to his lack of focus for that one second, Blu was able to land a single hit on Yoshi, causing him to slide on his talons a few feet back.

"I am faster." Blu smiled while he prepared himself for the next offensive.

Yoshi prepared himself too and realized this was going to be a lot longer than he had intended.

Simultaneously, the two macaws got into their combat pose while the members of the red dragon clan watched, some of them even whispering to the other on who they believed was going to win. As a moment went by, the duel began.

Blu struck first and began his assault. Yoshi leaped forward and began to block his attacks. The two of them appeared to be equally fast, leaving the members of the clan to wonder who was going to win. As both macaws continued to battle on the defensive, Yoshi eventually leaped out of the way, performing a back flip and landing on the other side of the room.

Yoshi spread out his wings and got back into his combat position. He waved his wing back, challenging Blu to try and face him. Blu did not hesitate and charged on the offensive. He leaped up into the air and began a series of kick attacks while in mid-air. Yoshi blocked each hit until Blu was down onto the ground again.

Blu threw a kick, but Yoshi ducked down and avoided it. He kicked towards Yoshi three times, but the smaller macaw dodged each attack. Blu threw one more kick, determined to land at least one hit. However, Yoshi had predicted this and grabbed onto Blu's talon with both of his wings. Before Blu could blink, Yoshi spun his talon, causing Blu to spin in mid-air before landing onto his side.

"You fought well, Blu." Yoshi informed him. Blu got back on his talons while Yoshi continued to speak. "Your training has paid off, but your technique is not your weakness. You struggle to think ahead and allow actions to take over. You must learn to plan your strategy before you attack."

Blu nodded in response, but secretly, he was planning an attack. As Yoshi continued speaking, Blu threw another kick, expecting to hit Yoshi now that he was caught off guard. Unfortunately for Blu, Yoshi was always prepared and easily dodged his attack. Yoshi in returned, threw his own kick, but Blu dodged.

Simultaneously, both macaws threw a leg kick towards one another, but both blocked. Blu delivered to kicks to Yoshi's side, finally landing a couple of hits on the smaller macaw. Yoshi did not appear to be fazed by his attacks and threw a kick of his own, striking Blu at his side.

Blu and Yoshi simultaneously threw a kick towards each other, hitting the other's talon at the same time. Yoshi performed a spin kick, kicking Blu a couple of feet backwards. Blu shrugged it off and delivered two hits from his talon, but each one missed. He proceeded to attack with his right talon, only for Yoshi to catch it in his wing and spin behind Blu, striking him in the back. Yoshi spun in front of Blu and delivered a strike from his wing to his belly, launching Blu into the air.

"Arg!" Blu groaned after he had impacted the ground. He leaped up onto his feet and jumped into the air while performing a spin kick. He missed when Yoshi dodged. The two began to block each other's wings attack until Yoshi got a hold of Blu's wing and threw him forward, causing Blu to slide across the ground while lying on his stomach.

Yoshi leaped into the air as high as he could, almost touching the ceiling in the process. He would have stomped directly onto Blu's head if the blue macaw had not rolled out of the way. Yoshi hit the floor instead.

Blu jumped up and performed a couple of forwards rolls to gain some distance between him and Yoshi. Once he had recovered his footing, Blu charged towards Yoshi and threw a couple of hits towards Yoshi, who dodged the first one and proceeded to block the second one.

Blu attempted to grab onto Yoshi and throw him. The smaller macaw flipped Blu's wings back before shoving him forward. Blu had been knocked one foot into the air before landing onto his stomach again. So far it seemed that Yoshi was gaining the upper hand and was landing a lot more hits than he was.

"I've got this." Blu encouraged himself quietly and got back onto his feet. He and Yoshi began to circle each other while until Yoshi slowly began to approach him. Both macaws were in their combat poses and began to act as if they were going to attack in order to trick one another. Both macaws did not seem to fall for the trick. Yoshi eventually got in range and kicked Blu in the stomach before throwing two hits.

Blu blocked both of his wings and grabbed Yoshi's wing. He flipped the smaller macaw around. While Yoshi was off balance slightly with his back facing the ground, his talons were still touching the ground. He was able to perform a front flip while being in Blu's grip and was able to recover. He counter-attacked Blu's technique by grabbing onto his wing and flipped Blu over his shoulder, knocking him onto the ground back first.

As Blu recovered, Yoshi attempted to knock him back down with a leg sweep, but Blu dodged, performing a front flip while doing so. Running out of options, Blu ran in the opposite directly, leaving a confused Yoshi to watch. At first, he feared Blu was running away, but instead, he began to run up against a wall in an attempt to get behind Yoshi and catch him off guard.

Blu leaped off from the wall and performed a back-flip before landing directly behind Yoshi. Unfortunately for him, Yoshi was too fast and the second Bu landed behind him, Yoshi delivered a powerful kick directly into Blu's stomach. The force was so powerful that it launched Blu all the way to the other side of the room. He would have hit a couple of ninjas had they not moved out of the way in time. Instead, he fit the wall.

Yoshi ceased his attack for a moment and allowed Blu to take the time to recover for a moment since he looked as if he were in pain from that kick. When Blu was able to stand onto his talons, Yoshi began to give him more words of wisdom. "Blu, why is it that you could not defeat me?"

Blu did not take a second to think about the reason why and answered almost immediately. "Because you've had a lot more experience than I have."

"Do you strongly believe that me having more years of training is the reason why you could not beat me?" Yoshi questioned while he rubbed two of his wingtips together. He did not look as if he had broken a sweat from the duel. "The reason you could not defeat me as not because of lack of skills, lack of strength, lack of speed, or lack of focus. Each of the traits you have mastered. You cannot beat me because you don't believe that you can beat me."

With that said, Yoshi turned around and took a few steps to the end of the room for them to begin again. Blu memorized Yoshi's words of believing and began to repeat it over and over again in his mind, knowing that it was the key to defeating him.

"Again." Yoshi ordered. He turned around and prepared to continue.

"Believe. Believe." Blu talked to himself and prepared to duel again once more.

The two macaws got into their defensive poses a second time and silence filled the room once more. Both the student and the master continued to glare towards one another for a moment until Yoshi attacked first for once. The two began to exchange punches and kicks towards one another, both blocking while trying to attack the other.

While this seemed a repeat of what was happening a moment ago, Blu was suddenly moving at a lot faster pace than before. A couple of the ninjas took notice of this and whispered to one another how fast he was moving than before. Yoshi also noticed this, but he did not appear to be to have trouble continuing his offensive.

Yoshi delivered two knife strikes towards Blu, knocking him back a few steps. He almost delivered a direct hit to Blu's beak had Blu not leaned back and dodged. The blue macaw jumped a few feet back.

"Why are you holding back, Blu?" Yoshi inquired. It was not difficult to tell that Blu was clearly faster and better than he thought he was, yet he did not appear to know this. "You're a lot better than this and you know it. Do not think you can beat me; know that you can beat me."

Yoshi waved his wing back a second time, challenging for Blu to come and get him. Blu prepared himself and finally began to believe that he was a lot better than he thought he was. Yoshi began to attack again while Blu blocked his attacks and attempted to land a couple of hits on his own, but it was still difficult to land a hit on the smaller macaw.

As they continued to strike and block each other's hits, Yoshi had grabbed both of Blu's wings in his own and crossed them over each other.

"Stop trying to hit me and just hit me already! Quit holding back!" Yoshi raised his voice slightly, but did not appear to be angry.

Blu broke free him his hold while he was beginning to lose his breaking point. He continued to try and defeat Yoshi who continued to hold back his attacks. Finally preparing to end this, Blu began to think deep within himself, believing himself to be a lot better than he thought he was.

The two macaws appeared to be at a stalemate for now. That was until Blu began to move his attacks a lot faster than usual, moving three times the speed he was moving a moment ago. Yoshi appeared to be surprised despite his knowledge on Blu's strategy. Unable to hold his defensive any longer, Blu broke through Yoshi's defensive and struck the smaller macaw a few times against his torso.

As he hit Yoshi a few times in his torso while refusing to hold back, he performed leg sweep on Yoshi, knocking him down onto his back. Before the smaller macaw could recover, Blu had kicked Yoshi's staff into his wing, now wielding it as his own weapon. Before Yoshi recovered, Blu placed his staff against the smaller macaw's neck, holding him down before he could jump up.

"Yield." Blu spoke while he continued to hold down Yoshi.

Yoshi only smiled in response, now knowing that Blu was ready. "Congratulations Blu. You have won. You are now ready to become a true member of our clan."

Blu removed Yoshi's staff from him and helped his master stand up. He handed Yoshi has staff back and the two macaws bowed respectfully towards one another. The battle was over and now it was time for Blu to become a true member of their clan. He finally had the training he needed to defeat the other three villains.

A few moments went by before Blu's initiation had begun. The entire clan of the Red Dragon gathered around in a line. Blu was in the center of the room, kneeling down before Yoshi.

Yoshi looked as if he were proud of Blu's excellent efforts and the fact he had become a member of their clan in such a short time. He tapped his staff gently against both sides of Blu's wings, declaring him an official member of their clan. "Blu, you have mastered the skills of everything I have taught you. You can learn no longer. Do you swear to uphold the principles of our brotherhood and to never compromise us until death?"

"I do." Blu swore with a slight nod.

"You are now a Red Dragon." Yoshi smiled as he handed Blu his new official belt along with a pair of ninja robes that matched the other ninjas present. He beckoned for Blu to stand and handed him his new outfit. "Blu I don't really expect you to wear these since you have no intention of staying for long as you mentioned you have trouble awaiting for. But know that you are always welcome here for as long as you live."

"Thank you, Master Yoshi." Blu thanked with a smile. He finally had what he needed and now he was prepared to face any troubles in the future.

Before further words were exchanged, the clan of ninjas turned towards the exit/entrance of the initiation room where two of their own walked inside and by the way they were walking, they looked injured. They were the same two ninjas Yoshi had dispatched to the prison after hearing from Joel that Amanda was planning to escape. He did not believe that she could escape and assumed Joel was lying just to scare him, but he had to make certain nevertheless.

"Master Yoshi..." one of them groaned. He collapsed onto the ground face first and lost conciseness.

The second ninja was still standing, but he had a wing around his torso. "Master..."

"What happened to you two?" Yoshi inquired. He quickly made his way towards them with a couple of the ninjas coming to assist their fallen.

"Amanda..." the ninja groaned and sat down onto the ground with two other ninjas supporting him.

The mention of his fallen student and adoptive daughter hit Yoshi hard. He hoped that they were just delusion, but he had to accept reality. Amanda was free. "What did you just SAY!?"

"Amanda...She's free..." the ninja explained weakly. He continued to explain the details before he passed out from his injuries. "We tried...To stop...Her...She was too strong...Master...Yoshi..."

Yoshi appeared surprised. He closed his eyes and quietly made his way out of the initiation room, needing some time to think for a while. What was he going to do now? Amanda was free and no doubt she was going to rally up an entire force from the rogue clan to attack here and destroy everything they had worked so hard to create. She was dangerous, too dangerous to be exact.

Chatter began to echo throughout the entire room. Each of the ninjas began to speak about Amanda's escape.

"Amanda's free?"

"She's coming here?"

"What do we do now?"

"What should we do?"

"Stay calm, Master Yoshi will have a plan."

"But what if he doesn't?"

"Then we'll stand together and defend our home no matter what."

Blu, in the meantime, attempted to follow Yoshi, but one of the ninjas stopped him from following.

"I think we better leave Master Yoshi to mediate for a while." the ninja suggested. "This event was pretty hard on him and he'll need time to think about it."

Blu nodded in agreement, but he did not wish to stand by and watch the events that would possibly occur. However this Amanda bird was, she was coming here for revenge on Yoshi. But was this Blu's fight? Had he any reason to stay now that he had the training he needed to continue his battle against these three villains. Could he just leave while knowing that the clan was in danger until Amanda was stopped?

"What can I do?" Blu asked the ninja who had stopped him moments ago.

"No reason for you to stay now that you have what you need." the ninja replied while he helped attend to one of their injured. "You can leave if you want to, but we'd all really appreciate it if you stuck around for a while. It's your choice though."

Blu could not deny that he wanted nothing more than to see his family again, but he had made a promise to the brotherhood that he could stand by them and help them no matter what. The Red Dragon clan was his family now and family was forever.

Until then, Blu decided to take his new things to his quarters for a while and rest until Yoshi said otherwise of their next plan of action.

* * *

 **And that's the end of this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. Blu has finished his training with the Red Dragon woman, but now with Amanda returning, trouble is certain to follow. Will Blu stay to help or will he go back to his family now? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out.**


	18. Chapter 18: battle of the temple: part 1

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 18: battle of the temple: part 1**

 **And we are back with chapter 18, ladies and gentlemen. I don't have anything to say in this author's note, other than enjoy.**

* * *

For once in his life, Yoshi was having trouble mediating. He had been locked away in his room now for about half hour, trying to find inner peace but the news that his former student escaping prison had hit him hard and now he was having trouble clearing his mind.

No doubt that she was coming to the temple soon and when she did, she would without a doubt have the intention of taking revenge on Yoshi for locking her away all those years ago. Yoshi had no idea what he was going to do to prevent this danger from happening.

Without saying another word, Yoshi picked up his staff and quietly left his room to call a meeting with all of his clan members. If war was coming, then he had to be prepared. Unfortunately, he had the feeling that his fellow students were not going to agree with him.

It only took a few moments to call every member of the Red Dragon clan into the front of the temple. All of them were sitting in rows of ten and remained silent as their master stood before them.

Yoshi closed his eyes for a moment and inhaled a deep breath, now slightly regretting what he was about to say, but for the safety of his people, this had to be done. He opened his eyes and proceeded to walk in front of the clan. "My brothers and sisters...As you may have heard, my former student Amanda has escaped from the prison and no doubt she has reunited with Joel and his rogue clan. They will be coming soon."

One of the ninjas raised his wing for permission to speak. "What are we going to do, Master Yoshi?"

This was the difficult part. Yoshi came out with the truth. "You are going to do nothing, none of you. Amanda is coming for me and me only and I cannot allow the rest of you to get involved in the danger. That is why all of you are going to be leaving."

The crowd of ninjas erupted with yells of disagreement, refusing to just leave when their home was in danger and most importantly, their master was going to be attacked without them.

"Silence!" Yoshi ordered and the crowd went silent. He did not often raise his voice and usually remained in a calm matter. "I know you all disapprove, but it is for the best. I've taught you all everything I could and I am proud to have each and every one of you as my students...As my family. Now all of you may leave."

The ninjas only turned towards one another in response. Clearly they were not willing to leave their master behind to die like this, but there was nothing they could do to change his mind and they could not disobey his orders.

Before they departed, one more on the ninjas raised his wing to ask yet another question: "Master Yoshi, what will you do?"

"I will stay here and hold off Amanda for as long as possible." Yoshi answered, but his words did not seem to calm the students down and ease their worries. Despite his skills, Amanda was too powerful and he was uncertain if he could defeat her. He had to try at least; it was the only thing left to do. "Now all of you go. Go and live your lives to fullest and know that I have been proud to be your master."

With his orders issued, the members of the Red Dragon stood up simultaneously and bowed to their master to express their appreciation for everything he had done for them. As they departed towards the main exit/entrance of the temple, Blu had not yet left. He could not just leave after everything that had happened, could he?

While the other members were leaving, Blu jumped forward and appreciated Yoshi, hoping that he would convince not to do this. "Master Yoshi, wait. You can't do this!"

"I have to, Blu, for the safety of everyone here." Yoshi assured. He too did not approve of his own plan, but it was the best one he could come up with. He beckoned for Blu to kneel down before him and placed his wing upon the blue macaw's shoulder. "Blu, you are good student and good friend. I am proud to have taught you. You claimed that you came here because you had trouble coming soon and I taught you everything you needed to know to defeat them. You have those skills and I no longer have anything to teach you. You have a family, you must protect them."

Blu remained silent for a moment to take the time to process Yoshi's words. He was right; he had only came here to receive training in order for the danger ahead, but overtime, he began a close bond to his mentor and not only looked up to him as a master, but as a father figure. Blu had never met his parents and never had any guidance in his life. "Master Yoshi, there must be another way."

"I wish there was, Blu. Believe me, I do." Yoshi agreed remorsefully while shaking his head slowly. "Now you must go. Protect your family."

Seeing that there was no changing his mind, Blu stood up and quietly left the temple, taking one last look at Yoshi before departing. He spread out his wings and took to the sky.

The temple was now silent. Only Yoshi remained inside. Seeing that he had little time before Amanda's arrival, he sat down and quietly began to meditate, preparing himself for the battle ahead. He wished he knew the outcome of the events that were going to take place, but this was only going to end in one way and that meant either Yoshi or Amanda dying.

Despite her now darker personality, Yoshi was unsure if he could find the will to kill the bird he considered his daughter. He had never killed anyone before and was unsure if he could find the strength and will to do what needed to be done. He had little time to decide and had to make a decision before it was too late.

* * *

Meanwhile, not too far from the Red Dragon temple, Amanda, Joel and their rogue faction of ninjas were proceeding their way towards the temple to exact revenge on their former master. With Amanda's training, the rogue faction were now prepared to face the Red Dragon clan and this time, win the battle.

"We're close." Amanda told her gang as they soared through the air in formation with Amanda leading them forward. "I remember this temple and its location. When we defeat Yoshi, I will be the new master on the temple and we shall be the true rules of the Red Dragon clan."

Joel turned towards her with an eyebrow raised. As much as he agreed with her plan, he always had the assumption that he was going to be in charge of the temple. After all, he had been trying for years now and thought it was only fair that he take charge, not Amanda. He would discuss this with her later. Now, however, they had more important matters to attend to.

Finally, they arrived at the temple and descended down to the ground. Immediately, they jumped into their defensive positions. However, to their surprised, none of the Red Dragon ninjas had arrived yet. They were usually positioned in the trees and keep watching for any hostiles, but so far, it seems that they were alone. Where could they be?

"It's too quiet." Joel stated the obvious while cautiously scanning his eyes around the area. "There's no-one here. Impossible."

"They may be trying to gain the jump on us. We should be extra cautious." Amanda stated. She took the lead and began to calmly walk towards the entrance/exit of the temple with her rogue faction falling closely.

With every second they got closer to the temple, they expected the Red Dragon clan to attack them any moment now, but to their surprised, nothing had yet happened. No traps, no attack, nothing. This was certainly not right. Could they have maybe run away in fear?

Now they were going to find out. As they reached the front of the temple, Amanda leaped up into the air and fly kicked the door, breaking it down with ease. Before they went inside, she turned around and issued orders to the clan.

"Most of you stay out here and keep watch. Joel, stay with them." Amanda ordered while she beckoned for a few of the ninjas to follow her as well. "You guys are with me. Let us go."

Joel looked hesitate to follow her orders, but nevertheless, he obeyed for now and remained with most of the clan outside of the temple to keep watch for the Red Dragon clan.

Amanda leaped inside the temple with some of her people following her closely. She narrowed her eyes forward and grinned in delight when she finally located her target. Yoshi was calmly sitting at the end of the room with his staff in his wing and his eyes closed. It seemed that he was expecting them to arrive.

"If it isn't my former master." Amanda greeted as she beckoned for her ninjas to hold back for now. "Yoshi, it has been some time. I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me."

Yoshi calmly opened his eyes while he glared towards Amanda. His expression remained normal for now and he showed no emotion to his former student. "Amanda. I knew that you were coming here."

Amanda looked to her left and then to her right, only to discover no other Red Dragon clan members were here. If she remembered correctly, there would always be guards stationed here. "Where are your slaves, Yoshi? It's too quiet."

"There are not my slaves, Amanda, they are my family." Yoshi responded. He stood up, armed with his staff in his wing. "There are gone. No-one else is here but me."

"Family? Please, do not even get me started." Amanda requested while she calmly rubbed her wingtips together. "You care not for their well-being, only to achieve your own goals."

"That is untrue, Amanda." Yoshi responded, unwilling to allow her taunts to distract and/or anger him. "I care for my students as my own family, just as I cared for you, but then you allowed Joel to corrupt you and turn you against me. He is the one lying, Amanda, and you are a fool to listen to his lies."

His words appeared to get Amanda angry, but she attempted to keep her cool before she lost it. "Say what you will, Yoshi, but Joel has showed me the way. You wanted to keep me away from my dreams."

"No Amanda, I wanted to prepare you before I helped you." Yoshi reassured. "This is the reason why I had not yet taught you the secrets, because I wanted you to be prepared first, but then you went and became corrupted and this is why I wanted you to wait. I know what you were becoming but I was uncertain that you would actually turn on him like this. You've been following Joel's lies your entire life."

"Liar!" Amanda shouted as he took a few steps forward.

In one last attempt to bring her back to the light side, Yoshi stepped forward and reached out to her, offering his wing to her despite their current distance apart. "Amanda, please. It's not too late to make amends. Come back to the light and let me help you."

There was silence in the entire room for a moment. Amanda's expression appeared to soften for a few seconds and from Yoshi's point of view, it looked as if she was considering his offer and was willing to leave the dark path. Yoshi's hopes were beginning to rise, hoping that his words had got through to her...

Too his horror, Amanda had suddenly shot a hateful glare towards him before throwing a ninja star directly towards him. Yoshi was almost caught off guard, but fortunately, he was able to catch it in his talon. He threw it to the side and jumped into his combat position.

"Never!" Amanda hissed, refusing to join him again. She gave the signal for her people to attack. "Warriors, take him down!"

The rogue clan members leaped forward and surrounded Yoshi in a circle while they prepared to attack him simultaneously. Yoshi spun his staff around slowly and prepared to defend himself for the attackers, refusing to allow them to beat him.

"Get him!" one of the ninjas yelled and charged towards Yoshi first.

Yoshi dodged his attacks and tripped him over with his staff. Another ninja attempted to throw a wing attack towards him, but Yoshi blocked his attack and whacked his staff against the ninja's head before whacking him in the stomach.

More ninjas advanced towards him, but he was holding them back with ease. When two ninjas attempted to attack him simultaneously, Yoshi leaped into the air and tricked them into head-butting each other. He jumped back down and performed a sweep with his staff, tripping the two other.

One ninja took out a combat staff and lunged towards Yoshi with his weapon rising above his head. He struck down and hit the ground instead, causing his entire body to vibrate. After the vibration passed, he looked confused as to where Yoshi had gone to. He was nowhere to be seen.

"He's there!" another ninja warned as he grabbed his own combat staff.

The ninja looked confused until he saw Yoshi was perched on his staff, calmly standing at the end.

The other ninja raised his staff in an attempt to whack Yoshi off. "Stand still, I'll get him."

Yoshi waited for the other ninja to attack before he jumped away, tricking one ninja into hitting his companion with a combat staff. He jumped down and kicked the ninja down onto his back.

Amanda only sighed in response, frustrated and disappointed to how useless her new army was. How Joel coped with these morons all these years as a mystery.

He looked up to see more ninjas advancing towards him. Yoshi prepared to continue his defensive technique.

* * *

After their master had ordered them to leave, the members of the Red Dragon clan were flying towards no particular destination. Their plan of action was to get as far away from the temple as possible and set up a new training academy temple somewhere else in the wild.

As they were flying, they could not help but worry for their master. At first, they were considering refusing Yoshi's orders and staying to help him, but the master made it perfectly clear that he did not want them to get hurt and ordered them to stay where they were.

The Red Dragon clan continued their flight, but halted in mid-air where a blue figure stopped by flying in front of them. It was Blu, their newest member of the clan. What was he doing here and more importantly, why had he stopped them? He had his training he required, what reason could he have to follow them?

"Stop!" Blu shouted. He was surprised when they actually listened to him. " _Wow, that actually worked_...Everyone, listen to me! We have to go back!"

There was chatter among the group of ninjas as they turned towards one another. That was until they decided to question Blu's sudden outburst.

"Go back?" one of the ninjas called out.

"We can't." another ninja disagreed.

"If you keep going, Master Yoshi is going to die." Blu warned them. His words, however, did not seem to change their mind so far.

"Master Yoshi has ordered us get away. He is giving his life so we can escape and we should be thankful for that." another ninja spoke up and his companions agreed with him.

Blu only sighed in response as he tried to find the words to convince them to come back with him. He could not help Yoshi alone and needed all of them to come back, but that was going to take a lot of persuasion. "I understand that Yoshi gave you orders to stay away, but he's your mentor, your teacher, your master, and most importantly...He's like a father, to all of us. He cares for all of us so much and has treated all of us with respect. In our training, he's taught all of us from doing right from wrong. Now you have to ask yourself something: what's more important? Following the rules or doing the right thing?"

There was silence among the Red Dragon clan members. They were processing Blu's words and were trying to decide if they should indeed keep going forward or should they turn back and help Yoshi battle Amanda, Joel and the rogue clan? They were having trouble deciding and turned towards one another for an answer, but not one of them could decide.

Blu, seeing that they were taking too long to decide, finally decided to take matters into his own wings. "Fine. If none of you are going to help, then I'm going back there myself."

Blu flew over them and proceeded back towards the direction where the temple was.

"You can't!" one of the Red Dragon's yelled.

"You'll die!" another one of them warned.

Despite their warnings, Blu did not care. He ignored them and proceeded to fly back towards the temple, determined to help Yoshi anyway possible. He knew he had a family to take care of, but he also made a promise to the clan and that's what he was going to fulfill. He never broke promises no matter the circumstances.

As he flew away into the distance, the Red Dragon clan members turned towards one another in the same position. Now they had to decide whenever they should keep going or disobey Yoshi's orders to help him battle Amanda and Joel.

Whatever their decision was going to be, they had to decide now, otherwise saving their master may not be optional anymore.

* * *

 **That concludes part 1 of this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. With the battle ahead, former master Yoshi and former student Amanda meet again for the final time. Keep your updates open for the next chapter.**


	19. Chapter 19: battle of the temple: part 2

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 19: battle of the temple: part 2**

 **Hey everyone, Rico here with another chapter. Before we begin, I would like to give a shout out to my friend Kraft58 and I recommend you check out his newest story Altered Destiny. It's great so far and continues to get better.**

* * *

Yoshi leaped into the air and performed a bicycle against of more rogue faction ninja, radially kicking his torso with incredible speed. He delivered one more kick that launched the ninja to the other side of the room. He landed back down onto his talons and spun his staff around.

The members of the rogue clan were down. Yoshi had defeated every last one of them with ease and did not appear to have even broken a sweat. Still, there was still a whole small army of them outside the temple and nothing was going to stop them from attacking if the order was given.

Amanda, who had been watching with a disappointed expression throughout the entire battle, sighed and shook her head. "Morons. Each of you wait outside. I'll finish off what you started."

The rogue action did not hesitate to leave. They recovering from their injuries sustained and limped out towards the temple while clutching where they had been hurt most. Now only Amanda and Yoshi remained. No more distractions, no more guards, just the two of them. Master and student.

The two macaws began to walk circles around the area.

"You were a fool to come back here, Amanda." Yoshi warned while he glared towards her disappointingly.

"If it weren't for your so-called students interfering, you would have been defeated long ago." Amanda reminded her former mentor. She calmly continued to walk circles with Yoshi, preparing to attack any moment now. "Now there is no-one left to interfere with us, Yoshi. Just me and you. I will make you pay for the lies you have placed on me my entire life."

"Amanda, there are not lies!" Yoshi responded in a somewhat loud tone. "Joel has been lying to you, we can't you see that!?"

While he was speaking, Amanda launched forward and began her assault. She moved a swift speed and attacked her former master. She began to throw her wing strikes and kicks towards Yoshi who used his staff to block and parry her attacks.

"When will the lying end, Yoshi?" Amanda asked as she delivered a powerful kick to Yoshi, who was able to block it with his staff, but the force of impact had knocked him back slightly.

As she delivered another kick, Yoshi blocked and whacked his staff against Amanda's torso, knocking her back a couple of steps. He spun his staff around within his wing and prepared to do what was necessary.

"Amanda, this is your last chance." Yoshi warned while he cracked his neck side to side. "I don't want to hurt you, but if you attack, I am not going to hold back this time."

Amanda appeared unfazed by his threats. She grinned and waved her wing back towards herself, challenging Yoshi to attack her. "Very well. Let's end this then."

Amanda leaped forward and began to fight aggressive, striking towards her former master without holding back any of her attacks. She threw multiple hits towards him and was able to land quite a few hits on Yoshi.

Yoshi blocked her next attack and whacked his wing against her chest before leaped up to strike her against the top of her head in an attempt to subdue her. He failed and Amanda leaped upwards to kick him, but missed.

When he landed, Yoshi attempted to whack Amanda with his staff, only for the yellow macaw to catch it within her wings. She lifted both Yoshi and his staff up and began to swing him around viciously.

Yoshi, however, did not give up. He slid down his staff and kicked Amanda a couple of times in her face. Amanda caught his talon and threw him back. Still armed with Yoshi's staff, she lifted her talon and broke the staff against her leg, breaking it in half and leaving Yoshi unarmed.

Amanda and Yoshi engaged in battle where they began to throw hits from their wings and kicks from their talons towards one another. They countered and blocked each other's attacks, unable to land an attack against the other. While Yoshi had the advantage with his speed, Amanda had the advantage with her strength.

Yoshi delivered two hits to Amanda's torso before sliding through her talons and kicking her back. Amanda stumbled forward slightly, but she immediately recovered and struck Yoshi in his torso, almost launching the smaller macaw into the air again. Yoshi recovered and began to block Amanda's attacks.

At one point during their battle, Amanda was able to catch Yoshi in her talon and began to squeeze him in her grip. Yoshi gripped onto her talons and pried them lose enough for him to wiggle his way free. He leaped forward and tackled Amanda to the ground. As she was pinned down, he did not hesitate to deliver a few hits to her face while she used her wings to block.

Amanda blocked half of his attacks, but he was no stopping. For a small macaw, he was certainly capable of delivering damage. She blocked his next attack before delivering a direct strike to Yoshi's face. The force of the blow was that powerful that it stunned Yoshi for a couple of seconds.

While he was dazed, Amanda shoved him off of her before delivering a dragon kick that launched him across the other side of the wall. Yoshi hit the wall with a sickening thud and slid down in pain. Clearly he was not getting the upper hand so far.

Amanda was not stopping or giving Yoshi the chance to recover. She lunged forward like a rocket to continue her attack. Yoshi leaped out of harm's way in the nick of time and jumped onto one of the support pillars. Amanda leaped up and began to chase after him where they began a chase, jumping from pillar to pillar.

"Stop moving!" Amanda ordered as she attempted to grab him, but he was too fast. Fueled with rage, Amanda leaped to the next pillar Yoshi had jumped on, but rather than land on with him, she delivered a kick directly towards the pillar instead. Using all of her strength, the pillar had broken in half and down it went, taking Yoshi with it.

Had he not moved out of the way in time, the now destroyed pillar may have crushed him when it collapsed. Yoshi leaped back into the center of the room where Amanda pursued him. Yoshi was surprised to how much her strength had evolved over the years. If she could destroy a pillar like that, then there was no telling what she could do to him.

"I HATE YOU!" Amanda screamed as she leaped forward and began to throw multiple hits towards Yoshi, who struggled to block them. "I hate you!"

As she continued throwing more hits, Yoshi finally had enough of this. When Amanda threw another hit from her wing, he dodged and leaped forward. He circled his wings into fists and began to launch a series of quick, focused attacks. He radially began hitting Amanda in her torso and with each hit, she took a step backwards.

Yoshi had delivered at least twelve hits before he leaped up and performed a back-flip to kick Amanda under her beak, knocking her back. Yoshi landed onto his talons while Amanda appeared slightly dazed by his attacks, but in a matter of seconds, she shrugged off his attacks and continued her attacks.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside of the temple, the members of the rouge faction clan were waiting patiently for some action to happen. It looked clear as if Amanda did not even need their help. Why were they even here?

"Well this is boring." one of them admitted. He leaned back against a tree with his wings crossed.

"You can say that again." another ninja agreed. He sighed in boredom and rubbed two of his wingtips together. "What would I give for something to happen? Let's face it, it's not like someone's going to just drop from the sky and attack us"

As if his own words were to be proven ironic, that same ninja was suddenly knocked down onto his stomach when a force from above impacted against him. Before he could recover, a single hit was delivered to the back of his head, knocking him into submission.

The other rogue ninjas were alerted and ran forward. Standing over one of their fallen comrades, a blue macaw had appeared out of nowhere and by the look across his face, he did not look happy. He was wearing a bird-size Red Dragon ninja belt.

One of the ninjas recognized his belt. "He's with the Red Dragon clan!"

Joel took a few stepped forward to investigate. Finally, some action had arrived. "Well, what are you waiting for? Take him down!"

The rouge members charged towards Blu, attacking him one at a time for some reasons. Blu, using his new training technique, dodged their attacks. He grabbed one of their talons and picked him up before spinning him around, knocking back a few of his companions in the process.

He continued doing so until he finally let go and the ninja went flying through mid-air (not literally of course) until he landed against his fellow rouge ninjas, knocking them down like bowling pins. Blu stood on the defensive position as more rogue ninjas attacked him.

"This place is going to be your grave!" one of them shouted.

Blu dodged a ninja's attack and delivered a kick to his stomach before shoving him back. Another ninja attempted to grab Blu from behind, but the blue macaw leaned his head back and whacked the ninja in his beak, causing him agony. He grabbed the ninja's wing and spun him in front of himself before shoving him into a few of his fellow ninjas.

Another ninja leaped forward with a dragon kick, but Blu caught his talon and slammed him to the ground back first. Before he could recover, Blu stomped onto his stomach, winding him that caused him to stay down.

It was certainly safe to say that Blu had been paying attention to his teachings. Although it seemed Blu was handling himself well, he appeared to be unaware of a sniper in the trees who was armed with a bow and arrow. As he continued to hold back the rouge ninjas, the sniper lined up a shot with his bow and prepared to fire. For now, he held his aim as he did not want to chance hitting his own people.

"Get him!" a rouge ninja yelled as he jumped onto Blu's back, only for Blu to throw him over his shoulder.

"Don't attack one at a time!" another rouge ninja yelled and threw a couple of hits towards Blu. He missed each one and began to throw a few hits of his own, but was unable to land a hit on the blue macaw due to his enemy blocking his ever attack.

Blu countered his next attack and gripped onto the rouge ninja's wing. As another ninja moved in, Blu threw the ninja to his side, tricking the second ninja into hitting his own man. He shoved both of them forward.

Two more ninjas attempted to attack simultaneously from both sides. They missed when Blu jumped back a couple of steps, causing them to bump into each other. While they were dazed, Blu placed his wings upon their sides of their heads and slammed them together, knocking both of them unconscious.

Now that those two were down, the sniper had a clear shot. Quickly before other rogue ninjas got in his way, he lined up a shot with his arrow and pulled back on his bow. As he got a clear shot towards Blu's head, he let go of the bow and the arrow fired directly towards the blue macaw.

Blu had kicked down one more ninja before swiftly spinning around one-hundred and eight degrees. He caught the talon in his talon that would have pierced through his head had he not caught it in time. He threw the arrow into a random direction.

More ninjas joined in and Blu was beginning to feel overwhelmed. As he continued to hold back the enemies, a couple of them had managed to land a couple of hits against him, knocking Blu back slightly. Despite his best efforts, he was overwhelmed and they were able to subdue him.

Two rogue ninjas grabbed his wings and forced him down onto his knees. He struggled to get free, but now that they had him subdued, they were certainly not going to let him go after all this.

Joel emerged from his band of rogue ninjas and took out a sword from his belt and held it near Blu's throat. "I must commend you for your bravery and determination to face us alone, but nevertheless, you are a fool for coming alone."

"I know about you, Joel!" Blu spat out while he continued struggling. "I know that you corrupted Amanda with your lies, turning her against Yoshi! How could you!?"

Joel decided to confess his lies to the blue macaw before he died. "Very well, it was simple really: Master Yoshi always held me back, always telling me that was not patient enough and therefore, I was never going to get to the level I wanted to get to, unless...Unless I killed Yoshi myself and took over the clan, but unfortunately, it was not that simple. I knew I was no match for Yoshi, but then I saw Amanda. She was like no other student I had seen before, showing rare and incredible talent. I needed her to take out Yoshi, but to do so, I watched her. I saw how Yoshi had declined her she wanted until the time was right and all I needed to do then was tell her a few lies. She was quite easy to trick. Then all I needed to do was wait until she took him out. Unfortunately, she was captured and I was forced to retreat, but now that she's back, my dream will be fulfilled."

"Except there's one thing you didn't count on, Joel!" Blu reminded him.

"And what might that be?" Joel inquired, but deep down, he had the feeling he knew what.

"You really think Amanda's going to let you take over?" Blu asked him, knowing that Amanda was far too skillful for Joel to take on.

Joel's predictions of what Blu was going to ask were correct. "How correct you are, blue macaw, but I have already prepared for this. As soon as Amanda defeats Yoshi-which she is currently doing now-I will kill her in her weakened state. Before she dies however, I will make her suffer even more be telling her the truth when she is at my mercy. Heheheha."

Blu could only glare towards him in response, angered by this sick bird.

"But that may take some time and until then, I think I'm going to entertain myself." Joel responded as he forced Blu up lean his head upwards with his sword against his throat.

Blu could only struggle as Joel prepared to slit his throat. It appeared that coming back here to help Yoshi turned out to be a mistake after all, and what's worse is that he let his family down. He promised them he would be back, but now it did not seem that was going to be possible. All that training for nothing.

Joel grinned in response, but before he continued further, he yelped in pain when a sudden sharp object had pierced through his shoulder. Out of seemingly nowhere, an arrow had been fired through him, knocking him down and distracting the other members of the rogue faction in the process.

Blu and the rogue ninjas looked up and to Blu's relief; it was the Red Dragon clan! They had come back and were ready for action. They launched themselves into the area where they engaged with the rouge ninjas. Taking this perfect opportunity to escape, Blu got one of his wings free and knocked the ninja down before using that same wing to strike the second ninja down.

That battle commenced between both ninja clans and war had begun. They were mostly engaging in hand to hand combat with their enemies, but a couple of them were not hesitating to use weapons against their opponents. While they were engaging battle, Blu ran over to one of the Red Dragon clan members who he had met before.

"You came back!" Blu almost cried with enthusiasm.

"We thought about your words for a while and we realized that you were right." the ninja admitted as he struck down a rouge ninja that was trying to attack him. "It is more important to do the right thing and not listening to orders. Now you must go to the temple and help Master Yoshi, he'll need you."

Blu nodded and proceeded to charge his way through the battle, knocking down any of the rouge ninjas that got in his way. A few of them attempted to stop him, but the determination to save his mentor was giving him all the strength he needed to charge though them.

As he reached the end of the battle, he could see the temple entrance/exit within his sights and ran forward to help Yoshi, but a few rouge ninjas blocked his way and prevented him from helping.

"Going somewhere, blue boy?" one of them inquired.

Blu ignored them and struck the same rouge ninja directly in his face, knocking him into submission. He proceeded to engage in combat with the other rouge ninjas.

Nearby, Joel, who had been injured with an arrow was alive and had managed to stand up despite his injury. As he witnessed the battle he was swarmed in, he clutched his injury and proceeded to run away for now, seeing that he was in no condition to battle.

Blu dispatched the rogue ninjas and now the temple was within his sights. He flew forward, secretly hoping he had not arrived too late. _"Hold on, Master Yoshi."_

* * *

 **That brings us to the end of part 2, ladies and gentlemen. The Red Dragon clan has returned and how the battle between both clans has begun, but now it is time to face Amanda and bring her down. Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	20. Chapter 20: fight against Amanda

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 20: fight against Amanda**

 **Hello everyone, we are back yet again with another chapter. We're on chapter 20, alright! With that being said, enjoy the chapter ladies and gentlemen.**

* * *

While the war began between both ninja clans continued outside, the leaders of both clans continued their duel within the temple. Yoshi and Amanda, at first, appeared to be equally matched and were not making much progress, but that all changed moments later when Amanda began to fight more aggressively.

As they reached the center of the room yet again, Amanda began to use her anger to fill her rage and threw multiple hits towards Yoshi while demanding to know the truth. Yoshi attempted to block her attacks, but he was beginning to lose his energy and could not hold his own much longer.

"WHY! WHY DID YOU USE ME!? TELL ME NOW!" Amanda screamed as she continued to throw more hits towards her former masters, who continued to try and hold back her attacks. "TELL ME!"

Finally losing control, Amanda delivered one more powerful kick that impacted against Yoshi's torso, breaking a couple of ribs in the process that caused him to cry out in agony. The force of the blow not only broke his bones, but in the process, he was launched to the other side of the room.

He collided into the wall with a sickening thud before slipping down onto the ground and beginning to fade away. Amanda took deep breaths as she marched over towards her fallen master and nudged him a few times with her talon, but he remained unresponsive. He was not breathing, hinting that he was dead from the impact.

Victory was hers.

While Amanda seemed pleased that she had killed her former master, a part of herself inside felt that it was wrong. What if...What if Joel had been using her the entire time? No, he couldn't have done that, would he? Amanda trusted Joel...Or did she? Amanda was deeply confused at this moment and was unsure on what to think of the situation.

"NO!"

Before she could continue further, she flipped around to the sound of the yell. Her eyes met a blue macaw standing by the exit/entrance of the temple. Interesting, she had not seen one of his species before and always assumed that they were extinct. It seems they were not.

"YOSHI!" Blu screamed while he ran halfway through the temple, but stopped when his eyes met Amanda's. There she was, standing a mere few feet away from him. This was Yoshi's former student and while she seemed like a normal macaw, she possesses unimaginable skill. He darted his eyes back towards Yoshi and was saddened to see the smaller macaw was not moving. "No!"

Amanda neither smiled nor looked angry. She took a few steps back and allowed Blu to run towards the injured Yoshi. She crossed her wings and waited.

Blu jumped over to the end of the room and knelt beside Yoshi, holding the smaller macaw up in his wings. He began to shake Yoshi in an attempt to wake him. "Master Yoshi! Yoshi! Yoshi!"

Yoshi remained unresponsive.

Tears began to fill in Blu's eyes as he respectfully placed Yoshi back down, allowing his mentor...His father to be at peace. He took the moment to mourn Yoshi, completely ignoring the fact that Amanda was right there and could attack him any moment.

"You shouldn't take pity on him. He deserved it." Amanda told Blu while her face remained motionless.

At that moment, Blu shot open his eyes as anger began to boil up within his body, causing him to lose control of himself. In a fit of rage, Blu turned around and dived directly towards Amanda, who did not seem to have expected Blu to attack her. She attempted to move, but was too late as Blu tackled her down and pinned her.

"You monster!" Blu yelled as he began to strike her against her face, hitting her from left to right.

Amanda blocked his next attack and delivered a strike directly towards Blu's beak, causing him quite some pain. She shoved him off and proceeded to attack, delivering furious attacks against the blue macaw's torso. After delivering a few attacks, Amanda leaped up and kicked him across the face, knocking him down onto the side.

In the process, Blu had been knocked down so hard that it caused vibration around the area, causing one of the many torches lit around the temple to fall down and as luck would have it, it landed beside some powder they used for training. Both macaws seemed to be unaware of this as they continued battle.

Blu got up onto his talons and got into a scuffle with Amanda. Both macaws gripped each other's wings and attempted to push the other back.

"And who are you to challenge me?" Amanda asked as she pushed him back slightly.

"My name is Blu and you will pay for what you've done!" Blu threatened, but his words did not appear to scare Amanda.

She only laughed in response before delivering to kick's to Blu's torso. As he groaned, Amanda leaped up and wrapped both of her talons around Blu's neck before throwing him over to the other side of the room. He collided with the wall and slipped down onto his back, groaning from the pain.

Amanda approached him and gripped his throat in her talon, choking him slowly. "You are a fool if you think you can beat me. I've just defeated the master of this temple, what makes you so certain that you could beat me?"

Blu was struggling to breath and thrashed around to release his words. He looked over towards the other side of the room where he saw the flames were beginning to spread towards the powder and when they mixed, that was not going to be a good sign. "F...Fire..."

Amanda did not hear his warning and leaned her head down to hear him more clearly. "What was that?"

"F-Fire!" Blu groaned as he struggled to get free.

Amanda, hearing the word "Fire", turned around swiftly where her eyes met the fire. She gasped and released Blu's throat, deciding to save herself while she had the chance. Quick as she could, Amanda charged towards the exit of the temple for herself but the fire had caused one of the support beams to fall down and block her way out.

Realizing she could not escape this way, Amanda turned around and proceeded to find her way out through the second exit at the back of the temple. As she left the room, Blu recovered and gasped when the fire was seconds away from reaching the powder. He jumped to his feet and proceeded to follow Amanda, but not before he picked up Yoshi and carried him to safety. Even if the master was dead, he deserved to have a funeral.

A few more terrifying seconds went by while Blu and Amanda reached the exit to the temple simultaneously. They both charged to exit, but before they made it to safety, the fire had reached the powder and before they knew it, there was an explosion.

The blast from the explosion had launched both macaws out of the temple via the backdoor. The temple exploded, destroying the home of the Red Dragon clan members. The members of the Red Dragon clan and the rouge faction had witnessed this from outside with the Red Dragons looking in sadness. Not only had they now lost their master, but now their home was gone too. They had nowhere to go there with no mentor.

Nevertheless, they were going to finish this battle in honor of their master. Without hesitation, they banded together as a team and continued their battle against the rouge faction members, vowing that today they would lose and pay for their crimes against their home.

As the explosion reached an end and fires were scattered around the area, the blue macaw Blu had been rendered unconscious for a couple of moments. It did not take long to wake up and when he did, only the worst things had raced around his mind.

He failed. Blu had failed to save Master Yoshi and allowed the rouge faction to destroy their home, a temple that had been here for years. Blu could only watch in further sadness when he could see Yoshi's lifeless body laying not too far away for him. For a split second, however, Blu could have sworn he saw Yoshi move.

Could he be alive?

Blu had to find out. He attempted to get up, but his injuries sustained from the blast had caused him pain that limited his movements for now. Parts of his body were filled with ashes sustained from the fire. He was slightly burned too, but it did not appear to be that serious.

"Yoshi...Yoshi..." Blu groaned as he clutched his torso with one wing while using the other to stand. He summoned the will to get onto his feet and began to limp towards his fallen master. "Master..."

Before Blu could get to Yoshi, he was suddenly struck by a kick to his face, knocking him back down yet again. He groaned as the impact from the attack had caused his other injuries more pain. He fell onto his back as his eyes met the yellow macaw he fought moments ago. Amanda had survived also.

However, despite her survival, it appeared she too sustained injuries. The explosion had caused her ninja robes to burn away and now her entire body was exposed again. Her body was also covered in ashes, but she also had some cuts too, along with a swollen eye, and by the expression across her face, she was not happy. She looked as if she was struggling to stand, but nevertheless, she was not giving up.

"You." Amanda hissed as she placed her talon against Blu's neck and lifted him up into the air with ease.

Blu groaned and clutched his wings against her talon as he was lifted up from the ground, his talons dangling in the air. While Amanda appeared younger and weaker than he did, she was picking him up despite the pains from her injuries. She tossed Blu to the other side of the area where he landed against a log back first.

As Blu tried to summon the strength to get back up, Amanda approached him yet again and placed her talon against his chest, holding him down. He groaned as she attempted to push her talon away, but she was not easing up.

"You. You could have easily walked away from all this, but you decided to continue being a pawn in Yoshi's game." Amanda told him as she moved her face closer to him.

"I'm not a pawn; I'm his student, a friend." Blu responded, refusing to believe her words. "You're a traitor, you attacked the one person who took care of you your entire life and you betrayed him after being told lies from Joel."

"Joel made me open my eyes!" Amanda hissed and pressed down against his chest more. "I am not a slave, I am a free woman and I will do as a please now, and I will start by killing you."

Blu, however, disagreed. He did not prepare himself to die here. As she finished her final sentence, he delivered a powerful strike against her beak, stunning Amanda temporarily. Before she recovered, Blu shoved her back and quickly stood back up. However, his injuries caused him pain and forced him to clutch his injured torso.

As Amanda recovered, she prepared finish off Blu despite her serious injuries.

Blu knew that now it was time to rely strongly on his training. While he was too weak to attack her directly, that would not stop him from countering her. He remembered Yoshi's teachings about letting an enemy tire themselves out before striking. Amanda was weak herself and would not be able to move as fast as she could before. He wrapped his wing around his torso and prepared to defend himself.

Amanda walked forward and attempted to undercut Blu to knock him back down. Blu blocked her wing attack before performing a leg sweep while standing through her talon, causing Amanda to trip backwards and landing onto her back.

"Is that all you got?" Blu inquired while groaning from the pain.

Amanda recovered and got back onto her talons. She threw a strike towards Blu, only for him to grip onto her wing with both of his own. Before she could attack further, Blu began to bend her wing back in an incorrect position, causing him quite some pain that prevented her from attack. Blu continued doing so as he forced Amanda back down onto the ground before delivering a strike across her face.

"Come on!" Blu challenged her.

Amanda jumped back up and placed her wings onto Blu to keep him still. Blu placed his own wings in between her own and flipped her wings away from him before slapping his wings against her eardrums causing her to groan as ringing shot through her ears. Blu shoved her back and she stumbled back, almost falling down again.

"Give me a challenge!" Blu taunted.

Again, Amanda jumped back up and threw a hit towards Blu, who blocked and delivered two hits of his own against her face before kicking her in the stomach, causing Amanda to fall down onto her stomach.

"That's the best you have to offer!" Blu inquired, angering Amanda further.

She got back up and threw another hit towards Blu, only for him to catch her wing before throwing her over her shoulder and landing on her back again.

"How did that feel?" Blu inquired.

Finally losing her patience, Amanda got up one last time and proceeded to deliver a kick towards Blu, but due to her pain, she was not fast enough. As she threw her kick towards Blu, who caught it in his wing before sliding one his talons behind her other talon and tripping her back down onto the ground.

As she collapsed onto her back yet again, Blu purposely fell down with her and delivered a strike from his wing to her face. He pinned himself on top of her and proceeded to begin beating her directly against her face, striking her from the left and then to the right each time.

Blu lost count of how many times he had hit her, but she was bleeding and physically too weak to defend herself. As he continued his assault, he heard something he had never expected from her: she began to beg.

"Stop!" Amanda pleaded. Her words caused Blu to cease his attack for a brief moment. "Please, stop! You win! Please..."

Blu stopped, but not for long. He did not ease up on her and angrily confronted her for her actions. "Why should I stop?! You killed Yoshi, the one person who took you in out of compassion. He gave you a home, feed you, raised, you and this is how you repaid him!? By believing the lies of Joel over one night!?"

Amanda was silent, but her expression had not changed. She was clearly in fear and too weak to attack.

Before further action was taken, Blu placed his wing into his ninja belt and showed that he was carrying a very small camera. Without saying anything, Blu pressed a button and the tape began to play.

 _"I know about you, Joel I know that you corrupted Amanda with your lies, turning her against Yoshi! How could you!?"_

 _"Very well, it was simple really: Master Yoshi always held me back, always telling me that was not patient enough and therefore, I was never going to get to the level I wanted to get to, unless...Unless I killed Yoshi myself and took over the clan, but unfortunately, it was not that simple. I knew I was no match for Yoshi, but then I saw Amanda. She was like no other student I had seen before, showing rare and incredible talent. I needed her to take out Yoshi, but to do so, I watched her. I saw how Yoshi had declined her she wanted until the time was right and all I needed to do then was tell her a few lies. She was quite easy to trick. Then all I needed to do was wait until she took him out. Unfortunately, she was captured and I was forced to retreat, but now that she's back, my dream will be fulfilled."_

 _"Except there's one thing you didn't count on, Joel!"_

 _"And what might that be?"_

 _"You really think Amanda's going to let you take over?"_

 _"How correct you are, blue macaw, but I have already prepared for this. As soon as Amanda defeats Yoshi-which she is currently doing now-I will kill her in her weakened state. Before she dies however, I will make her suffer even more be telling her the truth when she is at my mercy. Heheheha."_

Blu turned off the tape and watched as the weakened Amanda processed the words around her mind. It was true; Joel had lied to her all along and only did this as a plot to take over the Red Dragon. How could she have been so selfish and so stupid to believe him? She had killed her master for no reason; the man who had taken her of Amanda her entire life and this is how she repaid his kindness?

Amanda burst into tears that mixed in with the blood around her face. The monster within her began to disappear and her true form began to take over. "No...No! Yoshi...Daddy...What have I done? I've killed him! No! No! NO!"

Blu could only watch as he had nothing further to say. He still remained pinned down on Amanda just in case this was all a trick to get him to ease him.

Her next words, however, shocked Blu. She looked into his eyes and begged him to do what she believed was what she deserved. "Please kill me."

"What?" Blu inquired, surprised to what she just heard.

"Kill me. I killed my father, I don't deserve to live! Please, just end my life!" Amanda pleaded, wishing to be at death to pay for her crimes. "Please."

Despite everything she had done, Blu was unsure if he could kill her. While most of the Red Dragon clan would not hesitate, Blu could not find the strength to take away her life. As Blu tried to figure out what to do, he heard another voice calling out to him, but it was not Amanda.

"...Blu..."

Blu's eyes widened and he quickly jumped off Amanda and limped over towards another area of this back garden. He looked down and smiled widely when he discovered Yoshi was alive! Injured of course, but very well alive. He knelt down and supported him. "Master Yoshi! You're alive!"

"Blu." Yoshi greeted with a small smile. "Amanda...Is she...Dead?"

Blu shook his head in response. "No Master, she's defeated. She's seen the errors of her ways and knows that she did is wrong. She knows the truth now, but she wants to die. Amanda believes that she deserves it."

Yoshi weakly looked over where he could see Amanda had slipped away from consciousness, passing out from her injuries. "Blu...You've beaten her...And that's...Enough..."

Blu nodded in response and respected Master Yoshi's wishes. "But what about Joel and the rogue faction?"

"Without...Amanda, they'll...Be...Beaten soon." Yoshi reassured as he weakly turned his head towards his now burning home. "I guess...We'll...need a new home...?"

Blu smiled in response and helped carry Yoshi to get medical attention before his injuries became worse. "Come on, Master, let's get you some help."

"Don't...Forget Amanda." Yoshi requested. Despite almost killing him, he did not wish his former adoptive daughter to be left to die.

"I won't." Blu assured as he struggled to keep himself standing.

Before long, however, he looked up to see members of the Red Dragon clan had arrived from the sky to help. With a smile, he leaned against a log and waited for them to arrive. It was over, finally over. Amanda had been defeated and soon Joel would be apprehended as well. What would become of Amanda now was a mystery to Blu, but in time, Yoshi would decide her fate.

For now, they had one last job to do and that was to locate Joel before he got away.

* * *

 **The battle is almost over, ladies and gentlemen. Amanda has been defeated and has seen the errors of her ways. Now all that remains is to capture Joel and put an end to all of this. Chapter 21 coming soon.**


	21. Chapter 21: returning home

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **League of the Red Dragons**

 **Chapter 21: returning home**

 **Hello ladies and gentlemen, we are back with chapter 21.**

* * *

The battle was over and the rogue faction of ninjas had been defeated and was currently helped captive until the military arrived to lock them away. Without their leaders, they were unable to continue the battle and were forced to give up. They were outnumbered and outmatched.

Blu, Yoshi and Amanda were taken away for medical treatment before their injuries could get any worse. Despite her crimes, Yoshi insisted that they help her, but that did not mean he was going to let her go free. Once her injuries were attended to, she was to be escorted back to the prison where they hoped she would not escape again.

Without a home, the Red Dragon clan was going to have to move and locate a new suitable place where they could set up home. Until Yoshi recovered, one of his students was put in charge of the clan. At first, he offered it to Blu, but the blue macaw told him that it was time for them to part ways for now as Blu had a family to protect to which Yoshi understood.

Meanwhile, Joel was running alone from the jungle while he held his wing against his injury where he had been shot by an arrow. He was alone now and did not have any of his people to protect him. No matter, all he needed to do was escape and recruit his fellow ninjas again to launch another attack now that the Red Dragon Temple was destroyed.

"Fools." Joel sighed as he continued running away. He would fly if it weren't for his injury affecting one of his wings that limited his movements. "I'll take my vengeance, but first I need to get this arrow out of me."

Joel continued running through the jungle, but his path was blocked when members of the Red Dragon clan blocked his way. In his weakened condition, he was unable to face them and attempted to turn around and escape from the direction he came from, but instead, he found himself blocked by the military macaws too. He was trapped and there was nothing he could do to escape.

"Oh geez." Joel sighed when he realized he was cornered. "This day could not get any worse."

"Actually, it could." one of the Red Dragon clan members spoke up, catching Joel's attention. "Amanda knows the truth of what you have done to her. When she recovers, she isn't going to be very happy to see you. You will be locked away in prison, trapped with Amanda for months."

Joel gulped in fear as military macaws surrounded him and proceeded to take him away to be locked away. He could not be in any more fear than he was now, knowing that Amanda was going to kill him one day. He may be locked away, but there was going to be a moment where the guards would be unable to protect him and no doubt she would exact her revenge.

* * *

Amanda was beaten and was injured beyond recovery for a long while. After she was defeated by a single blue macaw who used his knowledge and her injuries against her, Amanda was taken by the prison where she received medical attention. Her injuries were serious and would take time to recover, but the only good news to this is if she attempted to escape, she would be unable to. Not that she had a reason anymore to escape of course now that she knew the truth.

She had been informed of that Yoshi was okay, much to her relief. It was hard to believe that she had tried to kill him, but now she knew the truth, the whole truth. After she recovered and maybe one day be allowed to leave this prison, she was turning over a new leaf. No more martial-arts, no more danger, no more battles. After witnessing what she was capable of, she could not continue further as she feared she would hurt others.

Since the area of her old cell was blocked off during her escape, Amanda was confined to the area where they kept the most dangerous prisoners. Due to her injuries, she was resting on a bed with bandages around her body and wings. She was going to be limited to this bed for a while, but she didn't care anymore. It's not like she was going anywhere anytime soon. She had been here for a day now.

Amanda sighed as she tried to make herself comfortable and get some rest for a while. However, her peace was interrupted when a guard knocked onto her cell. She leaned up to see him.

"You've got a visitor." the guard announced as he opened the cell door. As a precaution, he had other guards accompanying him, preparing themselves in case she tried anything.

Amanda raised her eyebrow in confusion. Who would have come to see her and more importantly, why?

Her wonders where answered when a familiar small macaw walked into her cell. Amanda could not believe that her visitor was no other than Yoshi, her former master. After all she did, why on Earth would he have come back here to see her? She expected that the Red Dragon clan wanted nothing more than to hurt her for her crimes.

"Master Yoshi?" Amanda gasped slightly, surprised he was here.

"Hello Amanda." Yoshi calmly greeted with a small smile. He walked to the side of her bed, using his staff as a walking stick due to his previous injuries. If it weren't for his robe, Amanda would be able to see he was covered in bandages of his own.

Amanda could not bear to look at her former master, her former father. She felt too shameful even looking at him, knowing that seeing him would forever remind her of her crimes. "Why are you here? You should go."

"I came to see you, Amanda." Yoshi stated the obvious, but his answer did not seem to satisfy Amanda.

"Why...Why would you want to see me?" Amanda inquired as she turned her head back towards him. She closed her eyes to hold back tears. "Master...I tried to kill you. Everything you taught me didn't even matter in the end. You trusted me, cared for me, treated me as your own family and what did I do in return for your kindness? I tried to kill you, I destroyed your home, and I hurt your clan. I was a fool to fall for Joel's lies and I don't deserve to be seen by anyone. You should go."

Despite her words being true, Yoshi bidden her no ill and do not hold a grudge despite everything. When he was a student many years ago, he was taunt that revenge was not the answering to everything and that they should learn to forgive.

"Amanda." Yoshi sighed, about to give Amanda one of his many lectures. "Our clan teaches many things about are order and one of them is to never give up on anyone no matter what. Yes, you had done all of those crimes you had mentioned, but you were not truly lost. I know that you could be brought back to the light, that's why I refused to hurt you when we first fought many years ago. Regardless of how far someone has fallen, they can always be brought back."

Amanda took a few seconds to process Yoshi's words and did agree with the most of it, but she was confused nevertheless. "How could you know that I could be brought back?"

"If you truly wanted to kill me, the kick you delivered to me would have been fatal." Yoshi explained. "I should know since I was the one who taught it to you. You were always on the path of redemption, Amanda; I just had to open your eyes. Amanda, despite everything you have done. I forgive you and me one day hope to welcome you back into our order.

Amanda could not what she was hearing. After all that happened, after all she had done, Yoshi had forgiven her! She could not believe her own eyes when she heard these words. She now finally understood why Yoshi chose not to attack her many years ago and why he held back his attacks. Amanda highly doubted that she would be allowed back into the order, but she needed time to think about it. After all, not like she was going anywhere.

Without saying anything, Amanda nodded and for the first time in a long time, she expressed her gratitude and her love to Yoshi. "Thank you...Father. If I one day will be allowed back into the clan, I promise to help you and teach your students not to make the same mistakes I made."

"That's good." Yoshi agreed with a nod.

Amanda had one more thing to say before they could settle their meeting completely. "Father...That Blu guy...Take care of him. He's a good bird and is someone who defiantly has the honor of being in your clan."

"I will, Amanda." Yoshi reassured. "He has his own path to follow now, but one day, he will return and so will you. Until then, take care of yourself, Amanda."

"You too, Master Yoshi. You too." Amanda returned the same farewell to her adoptive father.

With their peace said, Yoshi and Amanda bowed their heads respectfully towards one another. Before long, Yoshi had to leave. After all, he had a temple to rebuild. The guard opened the cell door and Yoshi proceeded to leave, but not before taking one last look back at his daughter. It may be a long time, but one day, they would see each other again and everything was going to be put back into the way it should be.

Until then, they had work to do and an order to rebuild.

* * *

In another area of the prison, Joel who had been caught with ease by the military had been locked away in a cell, stripped of his ninja clothing. Too his fear, he was locked away in a prison with Amanda, but that was not the worst part. The worst part was is that they were in the same cellblock area together!

Joel was in fear. He was cowering in his cell, shaking as he kept his eyes focused on the cell door. Amanda knew the truth of his deception and now he was certain that she would break out of her cell to attack him. Little did he know however is that Amanda was not going to attack him. No, despite her knowledge of what Joel had done to her, Amanda decided not to exact revenge on him, especially after hearing Yoshi lecture her about revenge.

Amanda was not going to attack him, but Joel did not know that and this was all part of her plan. As long as Joel was convinced into thinking that Amanda was going to attack him any moments now, he would spent the remaining years of his life in this prison cowering in fear, not knowing that he had nothing to fear after all. It was the perfect method of taking revenge without physically taking revenge.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blu, whom had made a recovery from his previous injuries, began to make his way home. Fortunately, his injuries he had received during his battle with Amanda and now he felt as healthy as a bird should be. It had been quite some time since he saw his family and he could not wait to see them again, despite the danger ahead.

Blu located his home and descended down to the bottom of the tree where his family was currently hiding underground for their own safety. He called out to them in excitement. "Jewel! Kids! I'm back!"

At first, there was silence filling the air, leaving Blu quite worried. He was prepared to panic, but his worries were eased when the secret hatch to his hideout opened and out game his beautiful mate along with his four children. He never felt happier to see them again.

"Blu! You're back!" Jewel exclaimed as she threw herself into her mate's wings.

The lovebirds shared an embrace before their kids joined in on the hug. They had never been happier to be reunited as a family. Now that Blu was back, he was prepared to face the dangers ahead. Of course it was going to be dangerous, but it was time to prepare for the battle ahead.

After a moment of reunion, Jewel leaned out from the hug with Blu placing his wings upon her shoulders.

"I'm glad to see you, Jewel. Kids. I've missed you all so much." Blu admitted with his loving, gentle smile.

"The feeling's mutual, Blu." Jewel replied with a smile, repeating somewhat familiar words to Blu. Before he could respond, she leaned forward and hugged him a second too. "You've been gone quite a while. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"That I did, Jewel." Blu smiled and wrapped his wings around Jewel, wanting to enjoy every moment of her in his embrace while he could, for when the battles arrived, it was going to be tough.

As the family of six hugged closely, Crystal had slipped away for a moment to fly up to their home since they had not been there for a while. However, something inside had picked up her curiosity: a note pinned against the wall. Curiously, she picked it up and proceeded to fly back down to her father.

"Hey Mom, Dad, I found this in the tree." Crystal announced as she passed the note to her father.

Blu accepted the note into his talon and began to read the contents. His eyes widened after reading the contents.

 _Congratulations, Blu, you have defeated the yellow macaw. Only two more villains to go._

"Oh." Blu gasped, slightly surprised.

Amanda was one of the villains he had to face and what was worse is that he had no idea. His plan was to just get his training and leave, but then Amanda broke free from prison. How in the world did this mysterious watcher know that Amanda was going to be a villain? Scratch that, how did he know that she could escape prison?

"What is it?" Jewel inquired when she noticed the look of worry across Blu's face. Clearly something had got him worked up.

"It's a long story." Blu admitted. He felt inclined to share it nevertheless, but not out here where they could be watched. "Let's get back into the hideout, I'll explain everything."

Jewel nodded and escorted the kids inside first before jumping inside herself. Blu took one final look around the area to make certain that he was not followed before he followed his family inside, closing the hatch behind him and remembering to lock it.

"Take a seat, Jewel." Blu offered as they sat down on the couch. "It's a long story."

Blu began to tell his tale of the time he was training with Master Yoshi. He told them about the training he had received, how much work there was, how the bond between he and Yoshi had established, but most importantly was telling them about Amanda. When he told them of her crimes, at first his family was shocked and worried when Blu mentioned they fought, but after reassurance from Blu that he was fine and that Amanda was redeemed, their worries were put to eases.

"-and as coincidence, Amanda turned out to be one of the four villains sent after me." Blu concluded his story while he looked between his family. His kids were sitting to his right while Jewel was sitting to his left. He extended both wings and placed them around his family. "Now I'm back and I'm ready for the danger ahead."

Jewel was glad to hear that Blu was ready, but at the same time, she did not want him to get hurt. She held his wing and reminded him that he was not alone. "You're ready, but you're not taking them alone. I'm with you no matter what. We're taking them down together."

Blu nodded in agreement and leaned over to peck the side of Jewel's beak. "Together."

"Now let's share what little time we have together." Jewel suggested as she leaned her head down against Blu's chest. If they were going to fight for their lives, then she was going to make every second with her family count.

Blu could not agree more. He held his family close as he shared what little time he had with them, knowing that this reunion was not going to last for long.

While the family of blue macaws was hiding underground, a mysterious dark figure wearing a cloak was perched on top of the branch, looking down in the direction towards Blu's hideout. He seemed to be completely aware that they were hiding under there, but rather than take action, he turned around and proceeded to fly away, knowing that this battle was not over yet.

Two more villains remained and as long as they were out there, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, this war was not going to be over by a long shot. No, this was only just beginning.

* * *

 **And that concludes the end of the League of the Red Dragons story line. Blu is reunited with his family and Amanda is imprisoned. Two villains remain along with the true mastermind. With part 2 over, it's now time to move onto part 3 of the story within the next chapter. Stay tuned for the next chapter, ladies and gentlemen.**


	22. Chapter 22: no rest for the weary

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Experiment of The Evil Genius**

 **Chapter 22: no rest for the weary  
**

 **Hey everyone, Rico here and we are back with chapter 22. After this chapter, I'm may be taking a little break for a short while. Not just for FanFiction, but for computers in general. I've been working a lot lately and need to get some rest for a while. I won't be too long though. Until then, here's chapter 22, enjoy.**

* * *

As a couple of days had passed since the events of the destruction of the Red Dragon temple with the defeat of the rouge faction ninjas. Things were beginning to look up now, but a certain blue macaw, however, could not rest until the danger ahead was over.

According to his progress, Max and Amanda two out of the four villains. Two more remained, but the question of when they would attack was a mystery. Now that he had training, he was ready for them, but Blu's main fear was the safety of his family. He would protect them no matter what.

During one early morning, Jewel had woken up from her sleep. As she leaned up, yawned and stretched, the first thing she noticed as her mate was not present inside of their room within the hideout. "Blu?" Jewel called out, but there was no response. She got out from the nest and exited the bedroom she shared with Blu and to her relief, there was Blu, sitting on a couch while staring at the hideout hatch. She could not help but wonder how long he had been sitting there.

"Blu?" Jewel greeted as she calmly walked beside him. She took a seat beside him, catching his attention. "How long have you been sitting here?"

"All night." Blu responded while his eyes had not moved from their current position. He looked extremely exhausted and at any moment, he could collapse from exhaustion.

"All night?" Jewel questioned. She was concerned for Blu and while she appreciated him looking out for them, he was going to cause himself some health damage if he continued going on like this. "Blu, you can't keep staying up all night, you're going to hurt yourself."

"I'm fine." Blu assured, but his expression was telling Jewel differently.

"You're NOT fine." Jewel countered, unwilling to fall for his lies. "Get some rest."

"I said I'm fine!" Blu snapped, causing Jewel to lean back slightly.

Jewel was merely fazed by his suddenly snappy attitude. Despite his goodness, she was not going to let him speak to her like that. She placed her wing on the side of his face and forced him to look at her. "Tyler Blu Gunderson, listen to me right now! When I say you're not fine, you're not fine! Now if you don't get any sleep, you're not going to have any energy to defend yourselves from these so-called villains! You're outmatched as it is-"

"Excuse me?!" Blu interrupted as he pushed himself out from her grip. "Outmatched?"

"There are two of them left, Blu. You may have beaten two of them, but it's NOT over yet. You're in over your heard. Why do you have to keep acting like you have to do this alone?!" Jewel reminded him. She calmed herself down and breathing slowly and now spoke in a calmer tone. "Look Blu, I don't want this to be your end."

While Blu appreciated the concern, he was taken by surprise and while he did not want to admit it, Jewel was right. He needed his sleep to gain his strength back; otherwise he was going to collapse any moment now. But nevertheless, he still felt he had something to say. He turned around for a moment before be began to speak while shifting himself back towards Jewel to make eye-contact. "Jewel. Every time you look at me, what do you see? The same bird you first met in that artificial jungle? The same bird you were chained to? The same bird who you fell in love with? No. Jewel, I'm not the same anymore; I'm not the same Blu from Minnesota you once knew. I've changed and now look at me? I went from a kind, loving, non-violent bird to this! I've been forced to do things I never thought I would do. I have to stop these villains, it's my job. They are only here because of me. I don't know who the true mastermind is behind all this, but the reason he got these four villains instead of facing me himself was because he's afraid. He's afraid of me because I am the reason that our children can sleep every night without worry."

That was quite a speech that left Jewel speechless. She was trying to think of some words to respond with, but she could not think of anything off the top of her mind.

As a moment or two went by, Blu sighed and finally came to his senses. "You're right, Jewel. I'm sorry I snapped, it's just...I'm worried, okay? I'm worried that you or the kids will get hurt and I don't want that to happen."

Jewel inhaled a deep breath before taking one of Blu's wings in her own, gaining his attention once again. "Blu, I love you and I do appreciate you devotion to protect us, but you have to remember that you're not alone in this. I'm with you no matter what, and what you said before was wrong. You're still the same bird I love and care for, my one and only, and I promise once all this is over, we'll all be back to our old selves. Now get some rest, I'll keep watch for a while, I promise."

Blu felt both touched and relieved from his mate's comforting words. He leaned forward and pecked the side of her beak. "Thanks Jewel. I love you."

"I love you too." Jewel smiled.

With Jewel keeping watch during early morning, Blu back into their bedroom and proceeded to get some sleep for a while. He needed it badly and felt relieved when his head rested against the nest with his eyes closing.

* * *

The two best friends Nico and Pedro arrived at their club to start another day of partying throughout the jungle of Rio. Now that their club had been moved, it was a lot easier to get to their club. They had a few precautions, of course such as not wanting to disturb any birds who may be trying to live a quiet life in that area which is why they moved the club to an isolated spot.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Nico whooped as he flew inside of their club.

"Time to set the mood!" Pedro agreed, performing a few dance moves as he too flew inside.

Before they could continue further, they noticed that they were not alone. Five figures were standing in the center of their club, expecting them to arrive. Each of them was wearing brown cloaks as a disguise. While Nico and Pedro were unable to tell who they were, he could tell they meant trouble.

One of the figures, who looked as if he were the leader of this team, marched forward towards the samba duo. "We were wondering when you would arrive." he spoke in a German accent.

"Who are you?" Nico inquired while he quickly looked back in an attempt to make their mistake, but one of the figures who looked a lot bigger than the others, blocked their way.

"It doesn't matter who we are." the leader figure responded. "What matters is that we require your assistance. Now I am going to ask you this once and once only: where are the blue macaws?"

Nico and Pedro turned to one another for advice, but neither had an answer. While they were afraid, they were not going to sell out their friends to this group of strangers.

"We're not telling you anything!" Nico responded, but he placed his wings around his beak when he realized what he had just said. "Oh dear."

"Yeah!" Pedro agreed, but he too looked somewhat skeptical.

The leader merely sighed in response and beckoned for the other figures to come closer. "Very well. I can assure you that I had no intention of hostility, but unfortunately, you have crossed the line and now I am going to take matters into my own wings. Carley, Axel, subdue them if you will."

The two figures known as Carley and Axel moved closer to Nico and Pedro who both gulped in response. Their worst fear was that they had no idea what these people wanted from their friends and what they were going to do with them. Still, there was no going back now and they could only hope someone would come to their aid soon.

* * *

As a couple of more hours passed and morning and fully risen, the family of blue macaws were rested and were ready for the day ahead. Of course they would be unable to enjoy themselves while there was still a threat out there, but fear should not prevent them from doing what they wished. They exited their hideout for now to get some food.

While the family prepared to get something to eat for breakfast, a Lear macaw had approached them out of nowhere. He was one of the many party members who were a local at Nico and Pedro's club.

"Guys, you got to help!" he warned while catching his breath.

"What is it?" Blu inquired while secretly fearing that it was time to face another villain.

"Nico and Pedro are in trouble at their club! These groups of hooded figures are holding them prisoner!" the Lear macaw quickly explained, but before they could ask further questions, the Lear macaw flew away towards the direction he came from.

Blu was quick to act to save their friends from danger. "We've got to help them, Jewel!"

"I know!" Jewel agreed, but first they had to make certain that their children were safe.

While there was still a threat out there, the kids were going to have to hide. For their own safety, Blu and Jewel had taken them back to the underground hideout where they had to stay until their parents said otherwise.

"Stay here, kids, and do NOT leave under any circumstances." Jewel them strictly, making certain that they listened to her warnings. She did as to make certain they were safe.

"Yes mom." all four of them nodded simultaneously.

"Lock the hatch and don't open it unless it's us." Blu added as they climbed down underground.

"But how will we know it's you?" Crystal inquired.

Blu had not thought of that, but he quickly came up with an idea. "When it's us, I'll knock three times."

The kids nodded in response as Blu and Jewel closed the hatch and waited until they heard the lock click from the other side. Now that they were certain their kids were safe without them, Blu and Jewel took flight together towards the samba club, flying quickly to make certain that they were not too late.

* * *

It did not take long for the blue macaws to reach their destination and when they did, they found that the outside of the club was deserted. Not a bird or any other wildlife in site. The entrance to the club was open and that indicated that they were expected.

The two blue macaws simultaneously landed onto the ground and began to approach the club with caution. Without a plan, they could be walking into certain danger. This was more than likely a trap and now it was time to spring that trap.

As they reached the entrance of the club, Blu turned towards Jewel and had a request to ask for her. "Jewel, I need you to wait here while I go in there first?"

"Why?" Jewel inquired while expecting that it was just another excuse for Blu to go alone.

"This could be a trap set by one of the two villains left. If it is a trap, I'd rather have them catch one of us than both of us." Blu began to explain, but his words merely left his mate with a confused expression. "Look, I'll go in first, that way they'll expect that only I've arrived. When they try to get them, you can come in and catch them off guard. That way we have the advantage."

As much as Jewel did not want to admit it out loud, he made a point. "Oh. That makes sense. But the second you're in trouble, I'm coming in to help you."

Blu nodded in agreement. "That's the plan. I'm going in now, wish me luck."

Jewel watched as Blu walked inside the club before disappearing from her sight. She sighed and silently wished him good luck. "Good luck, Blu."

As Blu proceeded inside the club, he looked around to see four hooded figures around the area and before he was aware, a five one appeared from behind him, blocking his way from escaping. He looked up to see his friends Nico and Pedro were tied up and were currently hanging upside down by their tied-together talons on the ceiling.

"So you came." the leader of the hooded figures greeted as he took a few steps forward while beckoning for his other men to hold their positions for now. "I knew you would come. We've been expecting you."

"Who are you?" Blu asked with a slight frown.

"Well, I suppose that there are no secrets anymore. Might as well keep things even." the leader responded and removed his cloak, tossing it to the side. The rest of his people did the same, showing their identities. Now that they were seen in plain sight, he introduced himself. "My name is Steiner, and these are my business partners: Carley, Axel, Doc and Big."

Blu studied their appearances and they were unlike any bird species he had seen before. They were macaws of course, but their feathers were unique. Their feathers were mostly green with the exception of their torsos and facial markings that were orange. Whatever they were, they were a rare species. They could even be the only five of their kind.

Steiner was the leader of the team. He had green feathers across his body with an orange torso and facial markings. He had grey talons and grey beak, he was a couple of inches taller than Blu, he had a spiked up hair style, and finally, he had a green eye. He was wearing a black pirate eyepatch across his right eye. Unlike the rest of his people, who were Portuguese, Steiner was German.

Carley was the only female of the group and serves as Steiner's bodyguard. She shares the same appearance with the rest of her team, except she has blue eyes, her hair style looked somewhat similar to Rico's and she was around Blu's height.

Axel was the marksman of the team and shared the same appearance and height as Doc, but he had a normal bird hairstyle. He had blue eyes and carried a wooden crossbow as a weapon.

Doc was the medical officer of the team and shared the same appearance and height as Axel and they almost looked like twins. The only way to tell them apart was that Doc wore a black bandana across his head.

Big was the final member of their team and served as the muscle. He shared the same appearance with the rest of his team and had a thin hairstyle, almost looking bold. Unlike the rest of his team, he was incredible tall and looked strong. He had brown eyes.

This was their team and they looked as if they were tough to beat.

"What are you?" Blu inquired, surprised at their appearance. "I've never seen your kind before."

"We, like you, are a rare species and are the only five of our kind." Steiner explained while rubbing two of his wingtips together. "Now that our introductions have been said, I am going to make this easy for you, macaw. You are coming with us. Now I would rather this go peacefully, but be warned that I am willing to take you by force."

Blu, however, disagreed. Despite their numbers, he was not going to let them take him like this with a fight. "You're not taking me anywhere, Steiner."

Steiner merely chuckled in response. "Very well. When I have you restrained, do not say that I did not give you the chance to come quietly. Get him."

The other members of Steiner's clan moved towards Blu, preparing to take him down.

"Blu, look it out!" Nico warned above.

Big had attempted to grab Blu from behind, but with Nico's warning, Blu dodged. He gripped onto Big's wing and to his surprised; he was able to throw the huge macaw over his shoulder. As the Big macaw plummeted, Axel moved forward with his crossbow aimed towards Blu.

"Don't move." Axel warned, lining up a shot directly towards Blu's head.

"Don't kill him." Steiner reminded him while he was watching the show from above.

Axel nodded and readjusted his aim towards Blu's talon. As he held the blue macaw in place, he was unexpected knocked down by a force from behind, causing him to drop his crossbow that slid away from him. Before Axel could recover, a talon placed onto his head shoved him back down

"Jewel!" Blu called out, never more relieved to see his beautiful mate.

Jewel stomped on Axel's head one more time. Before they could speak, Carley had appeared beside her before leaping up into the air and kicking Jewel across her face, knocking her to the ground.

Blu gasped, but his worries turned to anger as he charged towards Carley. He threw a couple of hits towards her, but to his surprise, Carley was not just a regular macaw, but she was also trained in martial-arts. She blocked Blu's attacks and used her strength to knock Blu back.

Carley leaped forward to continue her attack, but this time, Blu was prepared. As she threw a couple of kicks towards him, Blu gripped onto her talon in his wings before he threw her back, causing her to stumble slightly.

Carley brushed of his attack and blocked Blu's next attacks. When he threw his wing towards her, Carley caught it in her own and in the merely a second, she leaped up sideways and placed both of her talons around Blu's neck before tackling him to the ground.

As they both fell down, Carley kept her talons around Blu's neck, holding him tight in an attempt to put him to sleep. Blu groaned and placed his wings against her talons, attempting to pry them free, but she appeared to be a lot stronger than he noticed.

Running out of time, Blu was able to turn his head around enough to face her talon. In desperation, he bit hard against Carley's talon, causing her pain that she had to eventually let go of him. He pushed her away and swiftly stood up, preparing himself.

Blu recovered and prepared to continue but he stopped when a powerful grasp grabbed him from behind. He groaned as Big held him tight in his wings and began to crush him with his strength. Unless he escaped soon, he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen.

Refusing to give up, Blu whacked his wing against Big's eye that caused him enough pain that he had to use one of his wings to clutch his injury. Now that he had less hold on Blu, the blue macaw slipped from his wing before kicking Big in his stomach.

"Is that all you got?" Blu taunted, but his attitude changed when he heard his mate scream. He turned around and to his horror, Carley was holding Jewel hostage. She had one wing around Jewel's throat while she held a blade in her talon, threatening to kill Jewel unless he gave him. "Jewel! Let her go!"

"I think not, macaw." Steiner responded calmly. "Surrender now; otherwise my bodyguard here will be forced to do something rather harsh."

Blu wanted nothing more than to attack Steiner and Carley for their crimes, but if he acted now, he risked hurting Jewel and his friends. Refusing to let any harm come to them, Blu sat down and placed both of his wings behind the back of his head, surrounding.

"Good." Steiner grinned when he had Blu in his position. "Doc..."

Before Blu was aware of what was happening, he felt a sharp pain in his back. He stumbled forward and collapsed onto his stomach as his world faded away from him. Doc had drugged him with a tranquilizer. As he faded away from reality, the last thing he could hear was Jewel calling out his name.

* * *

 **And that concludes the beginning of part 3 for the story line. Here we meet a new species of five new mysterious birds: Steiner, Carley, Axel, Doc and Big. I can't take the credit for this, the idea of these species and names belonged to Assassin's Creed Master. He was originally going to use them for his own stories, but he's retired from writing now and he gave me the rights to these ocs. Big thanks to Assassin's Creed Master for that.**


	23. Chapter 23: false reality

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Experiment of The Evil Genius**

 **Chapter 23: false reality**

 **Hey everyone, I'm back and ready to deliver the next chapter. I felt better taking a little break, but nothing could keep me away forever. Anyway, we are back with chapter 23. Don't forgot to leave a review to tell me of what you enjoy and what you feel could be improved.**

* * *

Blu was unsure how long he had been asleep for, but it was certainly long enough he knew that much. He slowly began to open his eyes, expecting to find himself inside a cage. As he regained consciousness fully and recovered, Blu leaned up and rubbed his wing behind the back of his head.

When his eyesight recovered, he noticed that he was in a tree hollow. It certainly did not look like his home that was for sure. Before he could question further, he turned around when he heard familiar groaning. Jewel was there too, beginning to wake up as well after being put to sleep.

"Jewel." Blu greeted as he took one of her wings and helped her stand. "Are you okay?"

At first, Jewel was struggling to stand but after a few seconds, she regained her footing and shrugged off the dizziness from her eyes. "I'm okay. My head feels a little funny." she looked around and noticed there were in a home of some sort. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure." Blu admitted while trying to remember what happened exactly. Steiner and his team had drugged them to sleep and now they were in a tree hollow that was not theirs. "Last thing I remember was we were captured by Steiner and then-"

"Dad!"

Blu was cut off when he heard a familiar call from outside. He and Jewel turned around to see three of their four children flying just outside of their home. He raised an eyebrow, confused to what they were doing here when he gave them specific instructions to say hidden. "Kids? What are you doing here?"

"We told you to stay hidden." Jewel reminded them in a somewhat strict tone.

The three blue macaw kids looked confused and turned towards one another. Blu and Jewel immediately noticed that there was something different about them. While Rey and Crystal looked almost the same, Azul was...A girl? Not only that, but where was Jessica?

"Rey, Azul, Crystal, where is Jessica?" Jewel inquired.

For a second time, the blue macaw kids appeared to be even more confused.

"Uh...Mom, Dad, you must have our names mistaken. I am not Crystal, I am Bia, your second youngest child, and this is Tiago, your only son and youngest and Carla, your oldest daughter and child." Crystal, now calling herself Bia, answered while explaining.

"Who's Jessica?" Tiago inquired, scratching the back of his head confusingly.

"Jessica. Your other sister?" Blu reminded them, but his words did not appear to bring any familiar of that name.

"Uh, Mom, Dad, it's just us three." Carla responded, and to their parents surprised, she appeared to have a little bit of attitude on her. She came to a conclusion as to why their parents were acting this way. "You guys aren't having another egg, are you?"

"What? No!" Jewel exclaimed a little too loud. She was beginning to think that this was merely a prank set by their children to confuse them. "Kids I'm tired of these games. Stop pretending to have different names and stop pretending we don't have a fourth child!

"But we don't." Bia reassured. Her words, however, did not appear to convince her mother they were telling the truth. "If I remember correctly by my calculations, we were born three years ago in 2011, hatching almost simultaneously."

Blu and Jewel turned towards each other, both highly confused as to what was happening. How did they get here? Why were their children acting like this? Why was Azul a different gender? Worse, where was Jessica? There were too many questions on their mind that needed to be answered and obviously they were not going to get any here. They had to think of something fast.

"Mom, Pop-Pop sent us to get you, by the way." Carla pipped up while she began to search their home for something. She found what she was looking for which was her MP3 player.

"Pop-Pop?" Blu and Jewel spoke simultaneously, raising their eyebrows in more confusion.

"Yeah. You know, Eduardo. Your father, Mom?" Tiago reminded. He too appeared to be confused as to why his parents were acting the way they were. "Why are you guys acting like this? Did you sleep on the wrong side of the nest or something?"

Jewel gasped slightly when she heard the mention of Eduardo, her father. He was here? How? She could not find the correct words to express her shocked she was, but nevertheless, she departed out from their "home" and began to fly outside their home.

"Jewel, wait!" Blu called after her and took flight, chasing his mate into the sky.

As they reached a good distance where they could see everything from a perfect view, Blu and Jewel appeared even more surprised when their eyes locked onto what possible was the most beautiful sight they had ever seen. This was no longer the jungle, this was the amazon. They lived in a huge wide area where waterfalls dropped from the cliffs and hundreds of their own kind was flying around the area. More blue macaws?

"Wow." Blu breathed in amazement.

"It's...Beautiful..." Jewel smiled, almost forgetting about the current danger and confusion they were in moments ago.

"How did we here? What's going on?" Blu wondered out loud. He looked around the area while rubbing his talons against his eyes to make certain he was not imagination things, but no, this was real.

"I...I don't know..." Jewel admitted, breathing in astound. She took another look around the area for a moment until her eyes fell upon a familiar face she had not seen in a very, very long time. Without saying anything, she departed towards that direction with Blu following close behind her, making certain she did not wonder off too far.

They reached another tree in the area where a couple of blue macaws were perched on the tree. Jewel landed down on the same branch and excitement took her words away when her eyes fell upon...Her father.

Blu landed beside her merely seconds later. "Jewel? Jewel, what is it?"

Jewel continued to look surprised as the blue macaw she was staring it turned her way with a smile. "Dad...?"

The blue macaw she was looking at was her father, Eduardo who she believed had died long ago, but here he was, safe and sound. He turned towards her with a smile.

"Morning honey. Hey Blu." Eduardo greeted with a smile and a nod.

Blu appeared confused as to how this blue macaw knew him. Unlike Jewel, he had no idea who this was. "Blu? How does he know my-"

Jewel whimpered for a few seconds with slight tears dropping out of her eyes, catching Blu's attention. Without hesitation, she threw herself towards her father and embraced him in a close hug. "Daddy."

Blu's eyes widened as he now understood why she was happy to see this blue macaw. It was her father. He could not help but notice he had a face like Nigel and a hair style like Steiner, but he would not let that bother him now. What mattered was how he was here? Jewel had always told him Eduardo was dead and that they were the last of their kind. Too many questions with too many answers needed.

Eduardo appeared a little caught off guard when his daughter hugged him, but nevertheless, he smiled and returned the hug of comfort. "That's right, Jewel, it's me. Are you okay? You're acting like you haven't seen me in years?"

Jewel was speechless at this point. She had watched her father die many years ago, yet here he was, standing before her. She leaned back from his hug as Eduardo placed both his wings beside her neck. "Daddy. I...I missed you, that's all."

Eduardo appeared slightly confused, but nevertheless, he did not mind his daughter hugging him. "Well we did see each other yesterday, but I'm happy to see you too. Now, what do you say we get some breakfast with Mimi?"

Jewel nodded in response, but then the mention of her aunt left him even more excited. "Aunt Mimi?"

"Yeah. Your Aunt, my sister." Eduardo reminded while a little puzzled to why she was acting like this. "Is everything alright, Jewel? You look...I don't know, a little different."

Jewel came up with an excuse before her father worried too much. That and she wanted to see her Aunt Mimi too. "I...Just had a bad dream, that's all."

Eduardo appeared satisfied with that answer. "Well then, I'm sure you and Blu would like something to eat. Follow me."

Without hesitation, Jewel followed Eduardo not too far away to go and greet her aunt. Blu followed closely and was beginning to worry for Jewel since he still did not understand what had happened. When they were alone, they would have to talk about this soon, otherwise trouble was going to follow.

After getting Brazil nots for breakfast, Blu, Jewel and Eduardo met up with Mimi and the four blue macaws sat together on a tree as they watched the sight of their beautiful home below. While Jewel was extremely happy to see her family again, she could not help but take note that her mother was nowhere to be seen, nor had she been mentioned at all.

Jewel finished her breakfast and that's when she decided to inquire about her mother. "Dad. Where's Mom?"

Eduardo's expression softened as he appeared to turn sad. He looked down and closed his eyes to prevent tears from leaving his eyes. Once he had control of his emotions, he leaned up and placed his wing around Jewel. "Honey, you're mother's gone. She died a long time ago. Don't you remember?"

Jewel appeared to be saddened by this news since she was hoping her family would be here. "Yeah...I remember. Sorry."

"It's okay." Eduardo assured, patting her back a few times for reassurance. He decided to change the subject before bad memories came up. "Now, what do we have planned for today?"

Jewel smiled in response as she scooted closer to Blu who did not appear to be as happy as she was at the moment. "Well Dad, maybe a little bit of amazon music to lighten the day?"

Eduardo nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. Come, we shall start right away!"

All Eduardo needed to do was give a signal call and in seconds, the entire clan of blue macaws had gathered around the area. The blue macaws emerged from different directions and used some flowers to smear some sort of face paint across their facial markings. The males wore red while the females wore yellow. As an addition to the females, they also had some on their wingtips with a flower rested at the side of their head.

Jewel did not hesitate to join in. She grabbed a flower and quickly smeared her face paint before grabbing onto Blu's wing. "Come on, Blu, let's go!"

"Jewel! Wait!" Blu requested, but she did not appear to have heard him. He was about to speak up when someone had placed a flower in front of his face that caused red face paint to smear across his face. He coughed and turned towards Mimi. "Mimi!"

Mimi laughed in response as she flew to join in. Jewel took flight into the sky with Blu joining her as they flew around the area with the other blue macaws joining in. A music rhyme began to build up and they began to sing along with the music.

 _Let's come together, singing love and harmonia_ _  
 _We are so different, but the same inside our hearts_  
 _Beautiful colors, just as far as the eyes can see ya-a-a-a-a__

Jewel laughed in delight as she took Blu's wing in mid-air and practically forced him to join in. She began to dance in the center of the blue macaws with Blu merely watching her in mid-air. Soon however, he rolled his eyes with a smile and decided to join in, dancing beside her.

 _Open your wings, fly when you hear the call_ _  
 _Let's celebrate, for we are beautiful creatures_  
 _Come spread your wings, dance and sing songs about freedom__

Before long, their "children" had joined in on the singing, also wearing face paint of their own. Bia and Carla flew together in mid-air until they were rudely shoved aside by Tiago, who flew in between them.

 _Like lah lah lah hoo hoo_ _  
 _One for the jungle família__

 _Like bah bah bah boo boo_ _  
 _Calling the beautiful creatures__

Blu could not help but worry for Jewel during this. If she had forget they had a German macaw of an unknown species to deal with, then that was going to cause some problems between them. When they were alone, he was going to have a talk with her. For now, he just played along with their song.

 _Come this way celebrate_ _  
 _Laugh and dance all the way_  
 _Follow me sing along__

Jewel smiled as she flew beside Blu who took her wings in his own and the two began to dance as a duo. While Blu was not really in the mood to dance right now due to their problems, he made an exception and began to dance along with Jewel.

 _Lah lah bah bah boom boom_ _  
 _Já disse que Jade chegou_  
 _Já disse que já disse que Jade chegou_  
 _Já disse que Jade chegou_  
 _Já disse que já disse que Jade chegou__

At that moment, Eduardo appeared out of nowhere and began to sing his own unique lyrics of their song

 _Pap-pap, I am the pap-pap_ _  
 _I am the tchh I am your pap-pap_  
 _I am the pap-pap-pap, tchch pap-pap-pap_  
 _I am the pap-papy the tchhhchhc pap!__

As Eduardo finished off his own lyrics, the entire blue macaw tribe began to sing together again. Blu and Jewel even joined in too despite Blu worrying about something right now. He had to admit this was a cool song and when he and Jewel got out of here, they would have to tell Nico and Pedro about it. That's if they were okay, of course. Last time he saw them, they had been restrained by Steiner and his people and could be seriously hurt or worse.

 _Let's celebrate, for we are beautiful creatures_ _  
 _Come spread your wings, dance and sing songs about freedom_  
 _Like lah lah lah hoo hoo_  
 _One for the jungle família_  
 _Like bah bah bah boom boom__

 _Calling the beautiful creatures_

At the last lyric, the entire blue macaw clan raised their wings in celebration, looking towards the sky. They were gathered in a circle around Blu and Jewel whom were still in the center of the group. Now that their music had reached an end, the blue macaws departed in different directions.

"Wasn't that fun, Blu?" Jewel inquired as she released him from her wings.

"...I guess." Blu hesitated to give an answer.

Jewel caught a glimpse of this and was concerned to why Blu did not seem to be enjoying himself. "Is something wrong?"

Blu could not believe she had just asked that. Nevertheless, he kept a calm head for now. "Can we talk? In private."

"Sure." Jewel agreed.

Blu escorted Jewel back to their new home where they were in private for a while. Their new children had gone to fly around the area for a while and enjoy their day. Once they were together with no-one else around, tension began to rise.

Blu wiped the paint from his face and confronted Jewel. "What is the matter with you?!"

Jewel appeared surprised yet confused to his sudden outburst. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?! Jewel, none of this is real!" Blu reminded her. "We should be focusing on figuring out what happened, yet all you want to do is stick around and pretend this is real, but it's not!"

Jewel was stunned for a moment at Blu's words, but once she recovered, she began to yell in return. "What do you know of real!? This is the life we've always wanted and now you're upset?! My family is here!"

"They are not you're family! YOU'RE FATHER IS DEAD!" Blu screamed at the top of his lungs. It was a long time since he yelled that loud and he could not even remember shouting that harsh before.

Jewel was about to scream in return, but instead, she sat down in defeat and began to wimp quietly, tears falling from her eyes. She could not believe Blu had said that, but as much as she wanted to deny it, Blu was right. This was not real; her true father had died a long time ago.

Blu took a moment to calm himself down and took a seat beside Jewel. He slowly placed his wing around her and pulled her into a one-wing hug. This time, he began to give comforting words. "Jewel..."

Jewel slowly leaned her head up with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Blu apologized, gently stroking the side of her face with his free wing. "You miss your family very much and I can understand that. I wish this was real too, but truth is, it isn't real. These are not our kids, they're someone completely different, and worse...Jessica doesn't even exist here. You have to ask yourself a question: do you want to stay here where it's all a lie or do you want to go back to our true home?"

It took Jewel a mere moment before she came a decision. "Blu...I want to go home...You're right, this isn't really."

Now that he had her support, Blu dried the tears from her eyes before the two shared an embrace yet again, holding onto each other closely. Now they had to figure out how they got here and how they were to escape. It was going to be tough, but for the sake of survival, it had to be done.

"Blu." Jewel spoke up, turning towards her mate.

"Yeah?" Blu responded.

Jewel's expression changed from a sad one to a determined one. "Let's find a way out of here."

* * *

 **That concludes this chapter. Blu and Jewel has mysterious woken up in what appears to be another world. They have different children and Jewel has her family back. How will they escape this false reality? That question will be answered within the next chapter.**


	24. Chapter 24: plan of escape

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Experiment of The Evil Genius**

 **Chapter 24: plan of escape**

 **Hey everyone, Rico here with the next chapter already? Well, I decided I'd bring you guys and gals the next chapter sooner than usual and depending on how I feel, I may update again tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe I'll start updating daily again. We'll see how it goes, but for now, we have another chapter to do.**

* * *

Now that both blue macaws were aware that the false reality they were in was indeed a lie, they had to devise a plan to get out of here and back to reality. Problem is that they had no idea how to get out of here now before they were trapped here forever. Fortunately, Blu had a plan.

The two blue macaws positioned themselves opposite of each other as they prepared to do something that Jewel considered stupid. Blu admitted that it was not the best plan he had ever came up with, yet it might just work. Well, hopefully.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Jewel inquired as she stretched her wings out.

"Honestly, no." Blu admitted, leaving Jewel with a frown. "But it's the best idea I can come up with for now."

Blu's plan was for them to charge towards each other and pump heads as hard as he could. There was a possibility that the force of the impact would awake them back into reality. Stupid plan yes, but it might just work. That and he did not exactly have another idea after this.

"Ready?" Blu inquired, preparing to charge himself.

"Ready." Jewel confirmed with a sight.

"Okay...Go!" Blu said.

Together, both macaws charged towards each other simultaneously until they reached the center of their home where they collided with each other and pumped heads hard. Both blue macaws fell onto the floor and held their wings against their heads in pain. That was going to leave them with a headache for a while.

"Did it work?" Blu asked while rubbing the front of his head.

Jewel did a quick glimpse to see they were still in the same tree hollow as before. She frowned while rubbing her head. "No, it didn't."

That plan was a failure.

"Anymore bright ideas?" Jewel asked as she regained her footing.

Blu stood up and began to concentrate on other ideas he could use to his advantage. He placed one wingtip against his chin while trapping his talon against the floor to help him think. This was going to take a while.

However, before he could come up with some more ideas, sudden screams began to echo throughout the entire area, catching Blu and Jewel's attention. They ceased their thinking for now and stormed outside to see members of the blue macaw clan flying away from the danger while some of them flew back towards the danger.

"Hey, what's going on!?" Jewel asked one of the many blue macaws who flew past.

"We're under attack!" the male blue macaw answered before departing in a different direction.

Blu and Jewel flew outside to investigate and searched around the area. They could see their "kids" being escorted to safety by Mimi and down below they could see Eduardo rallying their troops to defend their home for their attacks: the scarlet macaw clan.

"Felipe!" Blu gasped. He remembered him from before when he requested his assistance to finding his children.

Jewel noticed this and could not help but ask the obvious. "You know him?"

"It's a long story." Blu admitted while he began to fly down to help them. There was no time to explain the situation right now, maybe when all this was over, but for now, the clan needed their help.

The scarlet macaws charged towards the blue macaws and both clans began to battle one another. Unfortunately, the blue macaw clan was outnumbered by extreme odds and was unable to hold their own for long against Felipe and his army of scarlet macaws. One by one, each blue macaw were defeated and that made the remaining troopers jobs much harder.

Blu quickly departed down to go and help them. Even if this was all just a dream or a false reality, that did not mean he would abandon his duty as a protector. He joined the battle where only Eduardo and a couple of blue macaws remained.

As the remaining blue macaws, Eduardo bravely fought against the scarlet macaws on his own, managing to take some of them down with his strength. However, the odds were still stacked against him and it would not be long until he had fallen.

"Get back!" Eduardo shouted as he picked up a scarlet macaw in his wings and threw him towards the others, knocking them down like bowling pins. He groaned as a scarlet macaw jumped onto his back but he threw him away with ease.

The scarlet macaws overpowered Eduardo despite his best efforts to hold them off. They began to surround him and struck him in different parts of his body, clawing, hitting, and biting him. Eduardo continued to hold them back, but there was just too many of them for him to handle. He threw one more strike before eventually being overpowered and tackled to the ground.

"Dad!" Jewel screeched as she flew forward to help him despite Blu's protests.

The scarlet macaws threw him from the sky and watched as he departed to the ground. Jewel flew down like a missile to catch up with him before he hit the ground to hard and got injured fatally. As Eduardo came close to the ground, Jewel caught up with him and quickly gripped her father in her talons while attempting to use her wings to slow down their descent.

Unfortunately, Eduardo was too heavy for Jewel to carry to safety. However, she had slowed them down enough to hit the ground softly that would not injure them too difficult. She stayed with her father as he slipped unconscious.

"He's down!" a scarlet macaw cheered and shared high fives with his fellow companions.

"Let's move in!" another scarlet macaw suggested.

The group of scarlet macaws moved forward to draw out any remaining blue macaws that were hidden. However, to their surprised, a lone blue macaw flew in front of them, blocking their way to victory. While they were at first surprised that one macaw would try to stand up against them, they immediately laughed afterwards.

"Look guys, one of them is trying to stop us!" one of the scarlet macaws laughed.

"We're so scared!" a second one sarcastically remarked, waving his wings around to mock Blu.

"You guys act all tough, but you're nothing but cowards." Blu told them with a slight grin across his beak.

The scarlet macaws growled in response, oblivious that they did not like being called cowards. They yelled and began to chase Blu who flew away with them chasing after him. While it seemed like he was trying to run away, he was actually trying to lead them away from the clan so that they were safe while he dealt with them elsewhere.

Blu took a glimpse behind him to make certain that they were still following him behind and away from the blue macaw clan. Now that they were away from putting others at risk, Blu proceeded to descend down towards the ground and landed at the top of the waterfall where he had some ground room.

The scarlet macaws joined him and gathered around Blu in a circle, preparing to take him down. However, little did they know that Blu was not just an ordinary blue macaw, but a dangerous and trained one.

"Let's get him!" a scarlet macaw shouted as a couple of them began to charge towards him.

"This place is going to be your grave." a second scarlet macaw told Blu who appeared unfazed by his threats and merely stood there with his wings crossed. The scarlet macaw threw a hit towards Blu, only for him to miss as Blu calmly moved aside. "What?!"

Before he could realize what happed, Blu performed a karate knife strike against the scarlet macaw, knocking him down onto the ground. He lifted the scarlet macaw back onto his talons before performing an undercut against the bottom of his beak, knocking the scarlet macaw into the air.

 _Are you ready? (Are you ready?)_  
 _Are you ready? (Are you ready?)_  
 _Are you ready?_

The scarlet macaw landed onto his back, groaning in pain as his people merely looked at him. He shrugged off his sudden injuries and shouted when he noticed all they were doing was looking at him. "What are you doing? Get him!"

The scarlet macaws charged towards Blu and for unknown reasons, they decided to attack him one at a time for the most part. Either they did this because they thought it was safe to avoid hitting each other or they were stupid enough to fall for this.

 _Action boy now  
Action girl now  
Be prepared to climb another mountain_

 _Are you ready?_

One scarlet macaw threw multiple hits towards Blu who dodged each one before leaning down and performing a leg sweep to knock him down. A second scarlet macaw attempted to kick Blu, who dodged and calmly caught his talon in his wing before proceeding to push him backwards, knocking him over and causing him to land on another scarlet macaw he knocked down previously.

 _Action boy now  
Action girl now  
Be prepared to swim across the ocean_

 _Are you ready?_

"Ahh!" a scarlet macaw cried out while charging towards Blu. He began to perform different types of moves as if he knew Kung Fu. Blu merely frowned in response before placing his wings onto the scarlet macaw and delivering a head-butt to his face.

 _Be prepared to fill you plate_  
 _Be prepared don't hesitate_  
 _Be prepared for a great big bust_  
 _Be prepared to do what you must_

Three scarlet macaws attempted to attack Blu simultaneously. Two of them were able to grab onto both his wings while he third one proceeded to hit him. As he threw his wing, Blu, lifted his talons up and gripped onto the scarlet macaw's wing before kicking him backwards. He proceeded to perform a back-flip that caused both scarlet macaws to release their hold on him. As he landed onto the ground, he placed both his wings onto the back of their heads and slammed them against each other.

 _Be prepared to take a hit_  
 _Be prepared to go for it_  
 _Be prepared for a sneak attack_  
 _Be prepared just don't look back_

"This guy is good!" a scarlet macaw admitted. It was his turn next and he leaped up into the air to kick Blu, only for him to move and accidentally kick his own ally in the process.

"He's good, but we can take him!" a second scarlet macaw assured. He began to throw kicks towards Blu, only to miss each time. As he threw one more kick, Blu caught his talon in his wing before spinning around and throwing him into a crowd of scarlet macaws, knocking them down like bowling pins.

 _They say, where there's a will there's a way_  
 _We've heard, these are the things that they say_  
 _So..._

A scarlet grabbed onto Blu but before he could deliver any attacks of his own, Blu flipped his hold on him before slapping his wings against the scarlet macaw's eardrums, causing him a high pitched ringing sound that distracted him. As he groaned, Blu turned him around and kicked him towards the other scarlet macaws.

 _Reach out for that big fat star_  
 _stick to the groove and go real far_  
 _outrun the ones who steal the Abar_

"Don't attack one at a time!" a scarlet macaw suggested as he attempted to attack Blu from behind, but unfortunately for him, Blu had predicted his attack. When he threw a hit, Blu dodged and caused the scarlet macaw to tumble forward before he calmly tripped the scarlet macaw down.

 _Are you ready? (Are you ready?)  
Are you ready?_

 _Action boy now_  
 _Action girl now_  
 _Be prepared to blast into the future_  
 _Action boy now_

A scarlet macaw picked up a nearby stick and ran forward towards Blu, attempting to use it as a melee weapon. He threw a hit towards Blu, who ducked to avoid it and in the process, tricking the scarlet macaw in hitting one of his own allies directly across his face. While he looked on in regret, Blu jumped up and grabbed onto the same stick, whacking it against the scarlet macaw's face that caused him to let go.

Now he had the weapon as his own. He twirled it around in his wing like a combat staff and held it over his back while waving his wing backwards, challenging anyone to attack him if they dared.

 _Action girl now  
Be prepared to rearrange the picture_

 _Are you ready?_

As more scarlet macaws jumped towards him, Blu used the stick knock them away with ease. One scarlet macaw attempted to attack Blu from above. His efforts were lived short when Blu whacked the scarlet macaw in mid-air, causing to be launched in an entire different direction. He hit the tree with a sickening thud.

 _Be prepared to fill you plate_  
 _Be prepared don't hesitate_  
 _Be prepared for a great big bust_  
 _Be prepared to do what you must_

"Arg!" a scarlet macaw cried out, charging directly towards Blu without thinking. He did not even get close when Blu whacked the stick against him, launching the scarlet macaw into the air and over the cliff they were standing on. He screamed as he plummeted towards the ground, almost forgetting that he could fly.

 _Be prepared to take a hit_  
 _Be prepared to go for it_  
 _Be prepared for a sneak attack_  
 _Be prepared just don't look back_

One by one, each scarlet macaw fallen to Blu's attacks. Despite their best efforts and tactics, they were unable to defeat Blu. As most of them had fallen, that's when they decided that they were outmatched and to retreat was their best option for now.

"Let's get out of here!" a scarlet macaw shouted, quickly departing away into the sky.

The other scarlet macaws did not hesitate to retreat and quickly departed away, declaring that they had lost this battle this time.

 _Are you ready?_  
 _Are you ready?_  
 _Are you ready?_  
 _Are you ready? (Are you ready?)_

Blu smiled and dusted himself off casually. This certainly proved that all that weeks of training had certainly paid off. His eyes widened when he realized that Jewel was still around here somewhere. He quickly jumped from the cliff and dived down towards the ground where he could see Jewel in the distance, attending to her injured father.

Blu landed beside Jewel, who was holding her father in her wings, attempting to wake him up. He sat beside her and placed a comforting wing over Jewel. "Are you okay?"

Jewel dropped a couple of tears that landed onto her father's body. She dried her tears and turned her attention towards Blu. "I know all this isn't really, but...I miss him so much...I can't stand to see him hurt like this, Blu. I...I want to get out of here, I want to go back home, the real world. Now."

"I understand." Blu assured as he planted a kiss on top of her head. He inhaled a deep breath while he prepared to tell Jewel his next plan of action that might just be the end of them, but at the same time, it might be the only way to get out of here. "Jewel, I've been thinking...I think there's one way we can get out of here, but...It's risky."

"What is it?" Jewel inquired, anxious to get out of here. At this point, she was willing to do anything to escape.

Blu remained silent for a moment, worried of what her reaction may be. He closed his eyes and turned away from Jewel when he declared his plan. "We...We jump."

Jewel cocked her head in confusion. "Jump? What do you mean?"

"I mean we get somewhere high and jump." Blu explained, leaving Jewel quite surprised.

"Jump!?" Jewel gasped, shocked at Blu's idea to get out of here. "You mean...Kill ourselves?"

Blu merely nodded in response. "I know we could die by doing this, but I also think that it's the only way that we can get out of here."

Jewel needed a moment to think about it. She turned around and began to think this idea over, unsure what she wanted to do. She would not deny that she did like it here, but the truth was that this was all a lie and none of this was real. They had to get out of here and get back to reality, but to do that was going to be difficult. As much as she wished there was an alternative, there wasn't. Jumping may be the only way to escape, even if it meant the risk of losing their lives. "...Okay."

"Are you sure?" Blu inquired, wishing to make certain that she was up for this.

"I'm sure." Jewel nodded. "You were right; we can't live in this false reality. We have a family to take care of and that family is not here. We have to escape no matter what and if that means that we have to risk suicide to do that...So be it. I'm ready, but...Just give me a minute to say goodbye to my dad."

Blu nodded in agreement and took a few steps to allow Jewel some privacy.

Once Blu was out of her sight and hearing range, she shifted her attention back to her father and began to bid her goodbye to her despite his current state. "Daddy...I have to go now. I have to go and I won't be coming back. I know I didn't get to see you for so long, but...I love you and Aunt Mimi no matter what and I'll never forget you. I hope I'll see you again one, dad. I love you..."

With her goodbye's said, Jewel leaned forward and hugged her father one more time. She released him after a moment and carefully positioned him a resting position before she stood up and fought the urge to turn back as she walked away. She joined Blu and gave him a nod to tell him she was ready.

Blu nodded in response and looked around the area for somewhere high they could jump from. He found a cliff that they could jump from that would certainly be fatal once they hit the ground. "There." he pointed his wingtip in the direction.

"Let's go." Jewel agreed and began her ascend into the air.

Together, the two blue macaws flew towards the top of the cliff while they secretly fearful of the outcome. If this plan of theirs did not work, then...Then they were going to meet their end and everyone they ever loved would be alone without them. As they reached the top of the cliff, Blu and Jewel thought it was best if they say some final words to each other before they jumped.

"Blu. If this doesn't work..." Jewel began as she struggled to fight back more tears. She was tired of crying. "Know that I love you, I always have no matter what. I trust you and you've saved me more times than I can count. You're the perfect bird for me and I never would have traded you for anyone else. Ever."

Now it was Blu's turn.

"Jewel." Blu breathed and took a deep breath. "Ever since I first laid my eyes on top of you, I thought you were the most beautiful bird in the world. You're sweet, beautiful and the love of my life. I may have been living with humans for most of my life, but know that I have enjoyed every moment with you and the kids and I never would have traded the love we shared for any other bird. I love you, Jewel. You'll always be my chained-to-each-other-bird."

With their final words said, the two leaned forward and shared an embrace, sharing what little time they had together. Now it was time for do something they thought they'd never do in a life time. The two walked towards the edge of the cliff where they looked down at the ground below. It was difficult to remember that it was not the fall that would kill them, but the impact.

Blu and Jewel held wings and turned towards each another one more time before they leaped off the cliff simultaneously, plummeting towards the ground like missiles. As they were falling, it was like their entire life had suddenly flashed before their eyes, reminding them of the great times they had.

Finally, they reached the end of the fall and closed their eyes at the last second. They hit the ground a before they knew it, the world around them disappeared and they had fallen into nothing but darkness.

* * *

 **That brings us to the end of chapter 24, ladies and gentlemen. Blu and Jewel have made one daring decision to escape the false reality. Their fates will be revealed soon in chapter 25.**


	25. Chapter 25: reality

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Experiment of The Evil Genius**

 **Chapter 25: reality**

 **Hello ladies and gentlemen, Rico here with the next chapter already? I've had a lot of free time recently, even despite my upcoming wedding in around two months. I spent all of my free time writing these chapters and now it looks like I'm back to update daily again. Unless something comes up, of course. Anyway, enjoy chapter 25.**

* * *

Blu's eyes shot open and he the first thing he did was jump back in surprise. He began to feel around different areas of his body, trying to make certain that he was alive. After blinking his eyes a few times, Blu sighed in relief when he confirmed that he was alive and well. He looked around the area to see he was inside a room that appeared to be underground. It worked! He and Jewel were free!

That reminded him; he quickly turned around towards his loved one who was beginning to regain consciousness herself.

"Jewel!" Blu greeted as he leaned forward and hugged her close, relieved to see her alive and well.

"Blu." Jewel sighed, returning the hug once she regained her sight. She was surprised that his plan had worked, but the important thing was that they were here now, alive and well. "You did it. You freed us."

"Yeah...I did." Blu smiled and slowly began to release her from his wings.

Once they were finished hugging, they finally noticed the feeling of cold metal around their heads. Simultaneously, they placed their wings upon the top of her head and removed the devices that had been strapped on top of their head. These devices must be the source of what we're keeping them in that false world.

At that moment, they divided their attention elsewhere when they heard talking among a group. The mysterious macaw Steiner along with his four henchmen marched inside, speaking among themselves. However, their expressions changed when they noticed the blue macaws were free from their restraints.

"They're free!?" Steiner gasped and took a few steps backwards.

"Impossible." Doc added, he too appeared surprised that they were free. "You were fitted with a neural imaginative head disruptor!"

Blu arched an eyebrow in confusion and crossed both of his wings together. As much as he wanted to make Steiner pay for his crimes, he beckoned for Jewel to remain still for now until he got some answers. "A what now?"

"A neural imaginative head disruptor." Steiner explained while he too beckoned for his people to cease their attack. "It's designed to keep the mind unfocused and traps the user in a false reality to keep their mind unoccupied from the real world. It's usually impossible to escape unless the disruptor is removed. How you escaped is a mystery."

"No, the mystery is why you had us fitted with them in the first place." Jewel spoke up, throwing down her wing in anger as she stomped her talon against the ground. "Tell us why!"

Steiner merely chuckled in response and proceeded to take slow steps out from the room while his people remained behind. "As much as I would be interested to give you the answers you seek, I'm afraid I have to keep my reasons a secret. Carley, Doc, Axel, Big...Take care of our guests here. Fit them back into the disruptors and this time, make certain to upgrade the disruptors and tie them down if you have to. We don't want them to escape again, do we?"

"Of course not." Carley agreed with a grin and positioned herself in a combat pose. "We'll handle them."

"And try not to hurt them too much." Steiner requested as he walked out of the room. "They are our "guests" after all."

With that, Steiner closed the door behind him and allowed his people to take care of Blu and Jewel while he remained hidden like the coward he was. Carley began to perform flips as she made her way towards them while her allies merely walked in response.

"Let's get them." Axel spoke up and aimed his crossbow directly towards Blu, threatening to shoot him unless he surrendered.

Blu glared towards the four of them as he prepared to strike. When Axel had made the mistake of walking too close towards him, Blu swiftly leaped forward and grabbed onto Axel's weapon. Before he could react, Blu kicked him in his stomach, causing him to release his hold on his weapon. Blu snapped the crossbow in half, preventing anyone from using it again.

Big lunged forward and attempted to grab Blu, who swiftly dodged out of his way. For a huge macaw he certainly had no intelligence. Blu slid under his talons before jumping on the large macaws back. Big groaned and moved around in different directions, attempting to throw Blu off from him.

Meanwhile, Jewel tackled Carley when she attempted to help her allies. She was unable to hold her down when Carley easily pushed her away before using her skills to break free and throw Jewel all the way to the other side of the room.

As Big continued to struggle, Blu climbed on to the top of his head and positioned himself correctly with a firm grip. He raised his wing and delivered a powerful karate knife strike directly against the big macaws head. The force of the attack was so powerful that Big was beginning to lose consciousness from the impact inflicted against him.

He stumbled for a few seconds before collapsing directly onto his back and in the process; he landed on top of Axel who was attempting to move out of the way but was not quick enough. Axel groaned the bottom half of his body was trapped underneath Big who was now unconscious.

"Get. Off. Me." Axel groaned, attempting to wiggle his way free, but Big was too heavy for him to slip free from his grip.

Now only two of them remained. As Carley prepared herself for battle, Doc who was not really trained for dealing with others began to run away towards a different room. Jewel, realizing she could not help with Carley, followed Doc and chased him.

"Jewel!" Blu called after her, not willing to let her alone in this place.

"Get Steiner! I'll handle him!" Jewel assured. She was no longer in sight when she chased Doc into a different room (a separate from where Steiner had gone into).

Blu did not agree to this, but as much as he hated to admit it, it was the only thing they could do. He had to deal with Steiner before he got away, but only one obstacle remained in his way: Carley. She was loyal to Steiner and was not obviously willing to let Blu simply waltzed past her without trying to stop him.

"Get out of my way." Blu warned, trying to prevent a battle between them if he could.

Carley merely chuckled in response, unfazed by his threats. "Threaten my all you want, but I'm not letting you get past me."

Blu could see that there was no amount of persuasion to change her mind. Without hesitation, he charged towards Carley and the two began to engage in wing to wing combat, throwing hits and counters towards one another. They both appeared to be equally matched and where Carley got her training from were a mystery, but there was no time for Blu to be thinking about her origins.

Carley threw a couple of hits towards Blu before swiftly sliding herself behind her and jumping onto his back. She gripped her talons around his torso and her wings around his neck, attempting to choke him into submission. Blu groaned and struggled to throw her off, but she was not letting go that easily and was not easing up.

Blu eventually threw himself to the ground, slamming both himself and Carley onto the ground which Carley hit against the ground first. He turned around and pinned himself on top of Carley, holding one wing against her neck while attempting to hold her down with his free wing and both of his talons.

Carley broke free him his hold and head-butted Blu, knocking him back a few steps. She leaped up and performed a spin kick moving, slamming her talon directly against the side of Blu's face that launched him in the air, causing him to spin while doing so. Despite this, Blu was table to land onto his talons and continued battle.

Blu recovered and began to dodge Carley's kick attacks. When she continued to throw countless kicks, he eventually grabbed one of them and spun it around his wings, causing Carley to spin around also. Carley spun around and fell to the ground once more, but she count-attacked by placing both of her talons against Blu's and tripping him to the ground. She leaped backwards and performed a back-flip to seat herself up. Blu recovered also and prepared to finish this soon.

"You're good." Carley grinned and prepared herself for more combat. "I haven't had a challenge for a while."

Blu recovered and lunged towards Carley, throwing multiple hits towards her, but she began to block each one. As they both fought on the offensive and defensive, Blu managed to push back her defense before throwing his head down and delivering a powerful head-butt against her face. While she appeared temporally stunned, she shook off the dizziness and countered-attacked by grabbing Blu's head, forcing it downwards as she proceeded to kick him in the face.

Carley tackled Blu down and placed both of her talons around one of his own while she attempted to use her wings to dislocated his talon and render him unable to continue attacking. Before she could perform this move, Blu placed his free talon against her and pulled himself free from her grip. The two stood up and continued their battle.

The two got close to each other yet again and began to throw attacks and kicks to the other. Both macaws blocked each other's attacks until Blu had noticed an opening and quickly took it before he missed it. He struck his talon up and kicked Carley directly under her beak, launching Carley a couple of feet into the air. Carley performed a back-flip in mid-air to land without hurting herself.

Blu leaped forward and threw a hit towards Carley, who calmly moved aside. He swiftly jumped around behind Carley and placed one wing around her throat while keeping the second one around her torso, holding her in place as he tried to put her to sleep. Carley groaned, but did not give up that easily. She whacked both her wings against Blu's torso to knock him off balance before his wing around her throat and pulling him around so now she was behind him. Carley leaped up and kicked Blu a couple of feet forward.

As Blu tumbled forward, Carley struck first and threw her wing towards Blu, who caught it in his own and got her in a wing lock. Carley used her free wing to deliver a strike to Blu's face, but when she threw a second hit, Blu blocked before he leaped up and delivered a fury of kicks against her stomach. He lost count of how many times he hit her, but one thing was for certain is that he did not ease up on her.

After he was finished, Blu flipped himself around so his back was facing towards Carley. He continued to hold her wing in his wing and pulled it over his shoulder until he heard the sound of a bone snap before screams from Carley. Without hesitation, he proceeded to throw her over his shoulder.

Carley landed onto her back and groaned in pain when she felt her left wing was in pain. She attempted to move it, but instead, felt great pain. "What did you do to me?!"

"Your wing's dislocated." Blu explained while he forced her to stand back up onto her talons. He noticed a nearby cage in the same room and proceeded to force her towards her. Carley tried to struggle, but could not move too much without causing more pain to her wing.

When they reached the cage, Blu opened the door but before placing Carley inside, he placed his wings against her own and without warning, he yanked on her wing and snapped it back into positon. Carley, however, screamed in agony as Blu pushed her into the cage. As she nursed her wing, Blu slammed the cage door shut and locked her inside.

Carley would attempt to get free, but in her injured state, she was forced to admit defeat. She sat down and quietly cursed herself for her failure to defeat Blu. She was younger and faster than he was, yet he still defeated her somehow. Maybe one day they would meet again and one day she would face him again in combat.

With Carley locked up, Axel trapped and Big unconscious, all that remained now was Steiner. Jewel was handling Doc and as much as he would like to help her, he could not let Steiner get away. He was the third villain out of the four he was forced to face and letting him escape to lead to extreme consequences. He marched towards the door Steiner had walked into, ignoring Axel's pleas to help him.

Blu felt somewhat guilty for doing that to Carley. She was evil and would not hesitate to attack him, but snapping her wing out of position felt wrong. Still, Blu knew that when it came to dangerous situations, it required desperate action. He would think about it later, but right now, he had a job to do.

He kicked on the door as hard a she could where a terrified Steiner was standing in the center of room that resembled an office. Blu marched towards Steiner, who began to back away in fear.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on now!" Steiner panicked and took a few steps backwards before tripping over onto his back. "There's no need for hostilities."

Blu ignored him and forced Steiner back onto his talons. He placed his wings against Steiner and began to interrogate him. "Answer my question, why did you have Jewel and I locked up here?! Why!?"

Steiner gulped when he realized he was in trouble. It was time to answer some questions after all. "Okay, now let's not be hasty. Even if I told you, you're far too late."

"Too late?" Blu repeated, confused to what he meant. He shrugged off his confusion expression and got down to business to show her was serious. "Too late for what!?"

Steiner calmly began to explain the situation with a grin across his beak. "There is going to be war, Blu. A great war by foes you have faced before. They will be here soon and they are going to destroy everything you've ever cherished, everyone you've ever loved, and finally, kill you too. Their leader came to me not too long ago and offered me a proposal: my people and I could be moved to their home where birds from who are not local cannot age. We would be gifted immortality. In return, he asked me if I would keep you distracted while he gathered his armies to attack."

Blu had the feeling that all this sounded similar somehow; he could not quite place a talon on where he had heard this before. "Why didn't they want me dead?"

"They wanted you alive yet out the way so you could witness your failure to protect those who counted on you." Steiner explained. Despite his failure, he appeared to be quite happy. "You're too late, Blu. They'll be here soon and there is nothing you can do to prevent it."

Blu growled and demanded more answers. "Who hired you!?"

Steiner chuckled in response. "I'm afraid I've spoken enough. Even if I give you an answer, it will make no difference now. Hahahaha."

Seeing that he was not going to get anymore answers from Steiner, Blu raised his wing and without hesitation, he delivered a powerful strike against Steiner, knocking him into submission. Now that he was dealt with and Blu got most of the information he sought, he proceeded to find somewhere to lock them all away and then find and help Jewel.

* * *

Jewel chased Doc into another room that led to a dead end. As Doc tried to figure out his next move, Jewel lunged forward and tackled him down. Doc fell onto his stomach with Jewel positioned on top of him; placing both her talons against his throat and his back, in the same pose she was in when she first met Blu.

"Okay, okay, you win!" Doc admitted and surrendered. "You've got me! Ease up a little, will ya?"

"You're lucky I'm easing up on you right now." Jewel assured with a growl to intimidate. Despite her role as a mother, she had not lost her fearsome and feisty touch.

She looked around and noticed a nearby cage that could hold him into they escaped and called in for the military macaws to take them away. Jewel release Doc and used her wings to lift him back onto his feet, forcing him towards the cage.

"No, no, not the cage!" Doc whined, but his pleas were fell short.

Jewel shoved him inside and locked the cage door before he could attempt an escape. Now that she had him subdued, she decided that some interrogating would be good. "Where are my friends?! Why did you do with Nico and Pedro?"

"You mean the canary and cardinal?" Doc corrected, but this only appeared to anger Jewel further. "We didn't take them; we left them at that club of theirs! They're safe, I swear."

"I hope so. For your sake." Jewel hissed to scare Doc which she worked after all.

With Doc locked away, Jewel proceeded to look around the area for a while in case there were any more prisoners here that needed to be freed. She could not just leave them to die despite her intensions of helping Blu right now. For all she knew, Blu could still be engaging combat with Carley.

As Jewel prepared to leave, she turned towards the end of the room and caught a glimpse of someone else here too. Someone was lying down against a bed and while she was unable to see who they were, they were fitted with one of those neural imaginative head disruptors. She walked towards the figure and proceeded to help them.

She approached the bed the other prison was laying on and proceeded to take his disruptor off. However, as he figure came closer into view, her eyes widened that almost caused her to pass out from shock. _"It couldn't be...Could it?"_

Jewel gasped when her eyes met a familiar face whom she thought she would never see again. "Is that you?"

* * *

 **Cliffhanger! Well it seems a lot has occurred in this chapter. Blu and Jewel are free, Steiner and his people have been subdued and it appears someone Jewel knows has returned. Stay tuned for chapter 26.**


	26. Chapter 26: an old friend

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Experiment of The Evil Genius**

 **Chapter 26: an old friend**

 **Hello ladies and gentlemen, Rico here with chapter 26. I don't have anything to say for this author's note, other than to enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Jewel slowly moved towards the unconscious hawk and removed the disruptor from his head to wake him back up in reality. She shook him a few times to wake him up. "Rico. Rico, wake up. Rico."

While Jewel was trying to wake him up, her mind was in a complete loop as to how he was here. Rico had died a long time ago and unless this was that other Rico from an alternative timeline, this had to be a trick. He did not appear to be older than they last saw him, meaning that this could not be the Rico from the alternative timeline. No, this had to be the Rico she knew all of her life.

After shaking him a few more times, Rico's eyes began to open. Jewel raised a huge smile across her beak and helped him stand. Who knows how long he had been locked up like that? Without saying anything, the two looked towards each other with Jewel smiling while Rico's face remained expressionless for now.

He was back. Jewel's close friend who she considered a brother for many years had returned to her. Words could not describe how happy she was right now to see him. How he was hear after she personally watched his body buried was a compete mystery which she intended to find out soon. For now, she cherished every moment to be with him again.

"Rico...It's you." Jewel whispered and slowly moved forward to hug frim. Slowly, she moved her wings around his back and embraced him a hug. "It's you. I've missed you."

Slowly, Rico extended his wings and returned the hug, holding her close. The two birds remained in a close embrace for a while until the door to the room and opened in and in came Blu. He rushed over towards his loved one, but stopped when he saw that she was hugging someone. At first, appeared confused, but when he got a clear view of whom she was hugging, his expression softened.

"Rico..." Blu muttered in a shocked tone.

At that moment, Rico leaned back from the hug and got himself free from Jewel's grip as Blu approached them. He couldn't do that to them after they were so happy to see him. He had a secret kept within him they needed to know, but at the same time, he was afraid to say it. Unfortunately, it had to be done.

"No." Rico shook his head and stepped away from them. "No, I can't. This isn't right!"

Jewel raised an eyebrow in confusion, dropping her happy expression as Blu stood beside her. "What are you talking about?"

Rico sighed and inhaled a deep breath, preparing himself for his next words that may shock his friends forever. He muttered his next words in a low tone. "I'm not Rico..."

Blu thought he heard correctly that Rico had just admitted he was not himself, but he made certain nevertheless. "What?"

"I'm not Rico!" Rico yelled and threw his wing in the air in anger, startling the blue macaws. "Alright! I'm not Rico, I'm a clone!"

Blu and Jewel turned towards one another in confusion before turning back towards the hawk. What did he mean? A clone? How could he be a clone when no such technology existed to clone birds, let alone humans? Jewel was secretly hoping this was just another one of Rico's many jokes, but unfortunately, she knew different. If this was a joke, he would not be acting this serious.

"A clone?" Blu queried and crossed his wings together. "I don't understand. How can you be a clone?"

Rico was expecting this question and as much as he wanted to explain everything to them, now was not the time. Not here, anyway. "Look, I know if I were you, I'd want to know what's going on and I'll be willing to explain everything as soon as we get out of here, okay? I'm pretty sure Steiner and his people aren't willing to let us leave so easily."

"Don't worry about them." Blu assured as he beckoned for them to follow him. "We took care of them, but now we have to get them to the prison before they recover. I also have problems of my own to deal with and now that you're back...Well, I could use your help."

Rico nodded in agreement and allowed Blu to lead the way back. Doc, who was locked in a cage, watched as they walked past him and exited the room. They were now back into the room where Blu and Jewel had been held prisoners, but now Carley, Axel and Big were locked inside the same cage (to which Big looked somewhat discomforted in. Steiner was standing in the center of the room after he had just recovered, but his one eye widened in fear when he saw familiar macaws and a hawk.

"Steiner." Blu groaned and prepared to lock him in the cage with the others, but that was until Rico placed his wing in front of him.

Rico, angered that he had been locked here for so long, marched towards Steiner who backed away in fear.

Steiner attempted to calm him down while continuing to back away. "Now Rico, there is no need for-"

"Just stop talking." Rico growled and raised his wing, delivering a powerful uppercut against Steiner that launched him across the other side of the room.

He hit the cage with a sickening thud before sliding down and slipping off into an unconscious state. Rico cracked his neck and calmly leaned up against a wall with his wings crossed. It felt relieving to make Steiner for keeping him locked away in a false world like that, despite being a clone of course.

"You guys go on ahead and get the military." Rico suggested, nodding his head calmly towards the exit of exit of the underground base. "I'll keep watch of these guys."

While they had only just been reunited, Blu and Jewel felt it was best if they went to go and find Lenny while Rico remained here to keep watch over them. Without saying a word, they nodded and proceeded to fly up to the hatch and with a good push; it opened, shining in the light from the sun outside.

The blue macaws exited the hideout and never felt so good to breathe in that fresh air and to feel the warmth of the sun once again. They made haste to get to the prison as soon as possible because if Steiner's words were true, than that means the danger was not over yet. The one who had hired him in the first place could possibly be the fourth and final villain.

* * *

It took quite some time to get to the prison and then back to the hideout, but the good thing that came out of all this is that Steiner and his team was now locked away deep within the prison wells where they would remain for a long time. While there, Blu had attempted to convince Lenny and his people that there was more trouble and while they wanted to help, they could not do anything without evidence.

Looks like Blu was going to have to wait a little longer than he anticipated. The second they were allowed to leave the prison, Blu and Jewel with Rico's clone flew through the jungle and set course for their home. This way, they could be in private and find out how this clone of Rico's existed.

"I think before we get down to business, you should get your friends." Rico suggested. It was quite clear by his tone that he believed himself to be a clone and nothing more.

"Rico they're your friends too." Jewel reminded, but her words did not appear to change the hawk's opinion on himself.

Rico shrugged off what she had said. "Look, please, just get them. They all deserve to know the truth."

Since there was no point in arguing, Blu nodded in agreement. "We'll go and get Rafael, Eva, Nico and Pedro."

Jewel, however, decided to go with Rico. "I'll go with Rico, Blu. We'll meet at the underground hideout."

Blu nodded in response and without another words, he flew away into one direction while Jewel and Rico proceeded to fly towards the other. It might take Blu some time to gather the others since he had to go to Rafael's home, then Nico and Pedro's, and then back to his own. That and there was a chance his friends were not at their homes at this moment.

Fortunately for Blu, all of his friends were home. While Rafael and Eva had questioned as to why they had to follow him, Nico and Pedro did not question his orders. It was fortunate they had survived their encounter with Steiner and his team; otherwise it could have got a lot worse. With his friends, Blu escorted them back to his home where he escorted them to his underground hideout.

When they arrived, Blu landed beside the hatch and knocked the right amount of times as a secret knock before it was opened by Jewel. He jumped inside with Rafael, Eva, their children, Nico and Pedro following closely.

"We're all here now." Blu announced as he took a seat by his children who shared a hug with their father after hearing about his kidnapping by Steiner from their mother.

Nico rubbed his eyes in shock when he saw the black hawk standing in the front of the room. "Rico?"

"No." Rico shook his head with his wings crossed. "Before all of you get excited, know that I am not the real Rico."

His words only left the others highly confused with puzzled faces.

Rico sighed and looked down towards his talons for a moment, knowing that this was going to take a while. He looked towards them again as he began to think back to his past. "I owe you all an explanation. Very well. As you may know, Nexus had resurrected the real Rico to have him as his slave and do his bidding, but as a precaution, Nexus had used his powers to clone the real Rico in case something happened to him. While the real Rico existed, I was brought to Steiner who at the time was working for Nexus for a short while. They placed those weird devices around me to keep in me stasis and away from the real world. I was only to be used when Nexus either needed a replacement or decided he no longer had use for me and the real Rico. If I remember correctly from Blu, Nexus was killed and Steiner was confused as to what to do with me. They decided to keep me as a sign of good faith towards the new leaders of the World of Darkness in case they needed another minion. That's pretty much it. I'm a clone of the real Rico, nothing more, nothing less."

The others turned towards one another and began to discuss this quietly. This explained how this clone of Rico came to be here, but the most important thing to remember was what was going to happen to him? How could they just accept that he was a clone when every time they looked at him, they would see nothing but their old friend? They had to discuss this later; right now they had a problem.

"Thank you for that, Rico." Blu thanked and expressed his gratitude. He stood up and caught everyone's attention while Rico went to go and sit back down. "Everyone, I know we're all confused as to what's going on with Rico, but we have more important matters to be dealing with right now. There is still one more dangerous villain out there-at least I think so. I do believe that it's that same person Steiner had referred to when I interrogated him. If this new bad guy as an army, then we need to be prepared."

Pedro raised his wing as if he was asking for permission to speak. "How do we do that? You know those military ain't going to help us without proof!"

"You're right, Pedro." Blu agreed with a nod. "While we can't get the military's help right now, we should seek help from somewhere else. I might be able to call in on some old friends for help. I'll have to think about it. While I am prepared, I'm also exhausted and I need to sleep for the night. You all may go now."

Since that was the best plan Blu could think of for now, the others turned around and began to climb through the hatch one by one until only the blue macaws and the hawk remained. They all turned towards Rico, waiting for his response.

"Well I guess I'll be going now." Rico told them and began to escort himself out.

"Where will you go?" Blu inquired before he left. While he was glad to see him, he could use his help around here.

"You're welcome to stay with us." Jewel offered. She had only just been reunited with Rico and clone or not, she did not want him to leave them again.

"Thanks but no thanks." Rico declined and approached the ladders. "I've been trapped in those fake worlds for far too long and frankly, my head feels crazy. I just...I just need to be alone for a while to think things over. Don't worry about me and when that trouble of yours comes, I'll be back and fight beside you no matter what. Until then, goodbye."

With his farewells said, Rico exited the hatch and took off into the sky where the sun was beginning to set. Blu had begun to follow him at first, but stopped when he decided it was best to let him go to think things over. Before joining his family back inside the hatch, he turned towards the inside of his home where a note as pinned to his wall. He landed inside and ripped the note off, reading its contents.

 _Congratulations on defeating Steiner. Only one more to go._

Blu frowned in response and crushed up the note in his talon. This confirmed that Steiner was in fact one of the villains, but now he had no time to think about the final villain. He needed some rest after what he and Jewel had been through. He flew back down inside of the hideout, remembering to lock the hatch behind him to avoid anyone trying to sneak in here.

As a couple of hours went by, it was time for the family of blue macaws to get some rest for a while. After putting the kids to bed in their own room, Blu and Jewel proceeded into their own bedroom where they got into a sleeping position in their nest. Jewel was lying on her side with Blu behind her while he had his wings around her.

It had been a long day and all they wanted was some rest.

"What a day." Jewel sighed and cuddled herself closer to Blu. As she closed her eyes, she continued to speak. "Blu..."

"Hmm?" Blu hummed while he was trying to keep awake to hear what she had to say.

"When...When we jumped in that false dream...So many things was going around my mind." Jewel confessed with an expression half sad yet half fear. "I was scared and I didn't know what was going to happen next. I thought...I thought there was a chance we weren't going to survive."

Blu sighed in response as he understood what she was feeling. "Jewel, I understand what you're going through. I felt the same too and to be honest, I...I had doubts in my own plan. I admit it was a stupid plan, but-"

"But it saved us?" Jewel finished for him. "Blu, your plan got us out of there. If it were just be in that false world, there wasn't a chance I wouldn't escape. Without you...I'm lost."

Blu smiled in response and leaned forward to plan a kiss on the back of her head. "Get some rest, Jewel. It's been a long day. We're almost though this. I promise, all this is going to be over soon and we'll get back to how things have been during these past six months."

"Goodnight Blu." Jewel whispered and almost immediately drifted off to sleep.

"Goodnight Jewel." Blu whispered and cuddled himself a little closer to her. In seconds, he drifted off to sleep with his mate in his wings.

* * *

As the night took over the sky and went darkness across the jungle of Rio, not everyone appeared to be sleeping. In the middle of the area not too far from where Blu's hideout was, two figures wearing brown cloaks had emerged from the shadows and as they double-checked no-one was around the area, they began to sneak forward.

"Are you sure this is the place?" the second figure who was a female whispered.

"This is it, alright." the first figure who was a male voice assured. "This is the blue macaw's home, no doubt. Do you have the note?"

The female figure took out the scrolled-up note from under her cloak and passed it to him.

The male figure held the note close and quietly flew towards Blu and Jewel's home, careful not to wake anyone up. As he reached the top of the tree and at the entrance/exit of the hollow, he was surprised to see no-one was here. While he was confused, he placed the scrolled-up nest in the center of their nest before quickly departing to avoid being spotted.

"I have placed the note in their home. No-one is there at the moment, but I am certain someone will be soon." the male assured, but they had to make haste to leave quickly before they were spotted. "We should leave before we attract unnecessary attention."

Together, the two cloaked figures took flight into the sky and set course back to their home. Now that they had left the note where it needed to be, their work here was done. What their intentions were was a mystery, but they hoped that Blu got their message.

He was their last hope.

* * *

 **And that brings us to the end of chapter 26, ladies and gentlemen. A lot has occurred in this chapter. Rico has returned, except that it isn't Rico but a clone created by Nexus long ago, Steiner and his people are defeated, two hidden figures have approached Blu's home, and now one more villain remains.**


	27. Chapter 27: new allies or old enemies?

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 27: new allies or old enemies?**

 **Greetings Rio FanFiction author's. We are back with chapter 27 and we are now on part 4 of the story. Three of the main villains have been defeated and only one more remains, along with the true mastermind we saw at the beginning chapter. Enjoy the chapter, ladies and gentlemen.**

* * *

While Blu had fallen asleep inside of the underground hideout, his eyes opened and he expected to find himself in his bedroom. However, he was not where he assumed to be, but instead, he was in the middle of the woods? Blu looked around the area for a moment while trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Where am I?" Blu asked himself while looking around the area for clues. He began to call out for his loved ones. "Jewel? Rey? Azul? Crystal? Jessica?"

No response

As he looked around, he could have sworn this place looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place a talon on where he had seen it. At that moment, he clicked his toes together. "Wait a minute! This is the World of Darkness!"

How Blu got there was a mystery, but the important thing was why he was here? Before he could put together the pieces and figure this puzzle out, his attention turned elsewhere when he heard battle cries coming from the left and his right. He yelped as he witnessed dark macaws running from one direction while a group of light macaws came from the other.

As Blu prepared himself for combat, the dark macaws had instead gone straight through him. Literally, it was like he was a ghost. Confused, Blu turned around and could only watch as the light macaws and dark macaws engaged in battle. So far, the light macaws appeared to be winning and as much as Blu wished he could help, he couldn't.

Before he could question further, the entire area had turned into a ball of white light before resuming to a different area of the woods at the edge of a cliff. He looked around again while still trying to figure out what the heck was going in.

"This is too weird." Blu admitted as he rubbed his wing against the back of his head. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard more battle cries.

A small group of light macaws charged towards the cliffs and even more confusing, they were being led by a dark macaw? To make matters worse, Blu had studied the dark macaw's face and to his horror, this dark macaw shared a resemblance to Nexus! What on Earth was happening?

This dark macaw had escorted the group to the edge of a cliff where they stopped to confront one last enemy. At the edge of the cliff was another dark macaw, but Blu was unable to see his face because he was wearing a grey cloak while armed with a sword.

The dark macaw who was leading the light macaws had stepped forward with a sword in his wings. He pointed his wing against the hooded figure. "Give up! You can't win, Kalûr!"

The mysterious figure wearing the cloak now known as "Kalûr" did not respond. Instead, he swung his sword around and prepared himself for combat.

Before Blu could witness what had happened next, another ball of light appeared around him and before he was aware of what was happening, he was teleported away.

* * *

"Ah!" Blu gasped as he shot up from his nest. He panted heavily as he did a quick glance around the area. He sighed in relief to see that he was still in the underground hideout and while he was hidden from the sun, he felt as it were morning. That and he had a clock handing on the wall.

Jewel, who had been woken up by Blu's sudden outbursts, leaned up and placed her wings around her mate. "Blu! Are you okay? What happened?"

Blu wished he had an answer, but everything that had just occurred as still a mystery to him. Why did he have this sudden dream of a battle between the light macaws and dark macaw? "I...I had a bad dream is all. Sorry if I woke you."

"It's okay." Jewel assured and gently placed herself and Blu down into the nest since it was still early morning and they could get some more sleep. She kept her wings around Blu as he attempted to get back to sleep. "You had a nightmare?"

Blu merely nodded in response.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jewel offered. She was a good listener and in their current situation, it would be nice if she and Blu could just talk for a while.

Blu sighed as he put together what he had witnessed. He turned around so they were face to face and could speak with eye-contact. "I was in the World of Darkness. There was a battle between the Angelus' and Nexus' people. I couldn't tell how long ago this happened, but there was this dark macaw who looked like Nexus, but he was helping the light macaws. He was leading them to battle."

Jewel raised an eyebrow in response. "Could he have been a spy or maybe a rebel?"

"I'm not sure." Blu admitted before continuing his story. "They had cornered one dark macaw at the edge of the cliff. His name was Kalûr, but I couldn't get a good look at his face, he was wearing a grey cloak. They looked as if they were about to battle, but then I woke up. I didn't see what happened next."

This was strange indeed, but Jewel was unsure what to say for words of comfort or explanation. "Well I can't see it's a coincidence. I think this is a sign that the dark macaws are returning, Blu. They might be the last villain we have to face."

"I had the feeling you would say that." Blu admitted with a slight frown. "Without Nexus, who could be leading the dark macaws to victory? Where could they have got an army from?"

"I have no idea, Blu." Jewel admitted with a sigh. "Let's just try and get some rest for a while. We'll talk about it when it's time, okay?"

"Okay." Blu agreed and got back into a sleeping position while resting in his mate's wings.

* * *

For the next couple of hours, the blue macaws got some sleep until it was time to get up and get the day going. While they were unaware how long this final villain was going to attack, but if what Steiner said was true, than they did not have a lot of time on their hands. If the dark macaws return with an army, then Blu and Jewel are going to be in trouble.

Last time they were backed up with powers and the light macaws but without an army or powers, this was going to be a very difficult task. They couldn't think about that right now. All Blu wanted to do was eat some breakfast with his family for a while.

The family of blue macaws exited their hideout and proceeded to go and find pick out some breakfast. It did not take them long to get some fruit to eat and they proceeded to fly back to their hideout to eat without feeling threatened. However, as they reached their home, Blu had taken a quick glimpse inside of his hollow and immediately turned back when he noticed something.

He placed his fruit down and noticed another note had been placed inside of his home. This couldn't be the same note he read yesterday for two reasons: this note was scrolled up and he ripped apart the other note.

"What is it?" Jewel inquired as she and the kids joined him inside their home.

"It's another note." Blu answered and picked up the note within his talon. "There was one left yesterday to tell me that there was only one villain left, but this one's different. Why would he or she leave me a second note?"

To answer his own question, Blu un-scrolled the note and began to read its contents. It appeared someone had left a message for him.

 _Dear Blu, I hope this note reaches you because it is important. We have a mutual problem and I think we could both get rid of it together if we joined forces. If you wish to negotiate, please meet me at this coordinates listed below. You may bring your friends or come alone, it is your choice. I look forward to seeing you._

 _Faithfully, a friend._

"What does it say?" Jewel inquired as Blu read the note in his mind.

"Someone says that he and I have a mutual problem and that he wants to meet me and talk about joining forces." Blu explained while rolling up the note as it was before. "I'm not sure who left this, but I'm considering going to meet them. What do you think?"

Jewel had to take a moment to think about it. She thought hard about Blu's option and decided to point out the obvious before giving a direct answer. "Well I think there is a chance that the note could be true. After all, if it was a trap, why would they make it so obvious? I think you should go, but I'm going with you if you do. I can't let you go there alone."

Blu nodded in agreement, knowing that Jewel would not refuse if he tried to protest. "Alright. We'll go when we finish our breakfast."

It took the family of blue macaws a couple of moments to finish their breakfast. After they were finished, Blu and Jewel had instructed their children to remain hidden again as they were still not safe until all this was over. That and there was still a chance this meeting could be trap.

"We'll be back as soon as possible, kids." Blu assured as he and Jewel shared a hug with the four of them.

"Be safe, Dad." Crystal said with a smile.

"I will, honey." Blu assured with a smile of his own.

With their goodbyes said for now, Blu and Jewel closed the hatch to their hideout and proceeded to fly towards these coordinates. If Blu's calculations were indeed correct, then this meeting place should be around half-hour tops distance. While they were flying, however, the two lovebirds could not help but wonder who had called them to this meeting and why. Why would he have a mutual problem they shared? Why would he need their help?

All of these questions would soon be answered once they arrived at their destination. Hopefully this was not another trap set by whoever wrote the message. Blu was not in the mood for tricks and if they tried anything, they he was going to make certain that they paid for their treachery.

* * *

After almost half-hour, the two arrived to this destination but there was no sign of anyone here yet. They landed down in a small open area deep within the trees and waited patiently for whoever had contacted them for help.

"You sure we're in the right place?" Jewel inquired while she crossed her wings and looked around the area cautiously.

"This is definitely the place." Blu assured as he retrieved the note he had carried with him in case they got lost. "Yep, this is it alright. Maybe we're late or maybe they're-"

Before he could finish, the two looked up when the sounds of rustling caught their attention. Out of the trees, two figures dropped down a few feet in front of them. Blu gasped slightly when his eyes met familiar foes: dark macaws. It was a trap all along.

"You!" Blu growled and positioned himself in combat pose.

However, the dark macaws did not attack. Instead, they had placed their wings out and quickly explained their intensions before the situation got out of hand.

"Wait!" one dark macaw pleaded. "Do not attack; we did not bring you here for trouble!"

Blu did as they requested, but he did not let his guard down. "Why should I believe anything you have to say?"

"Because we're not a part of the original dark macaw army." the second dark macaw explained. His words caused Blu and Jewel to raise eyebrows and turned towards each other in confusion. "We're rebels. We have been fighting against the true dark macaw army for years. Our leader called you here because he wants help to defeat the upcoming evil."

Blu dropped his combat pose as he considered their words. He crossed his wings and began to question them further. "You're leader, where is he?"

"He's inside." the first dark macaw answered. "Please, come in and meet him."

Despite still being unsure, Blu and Jewel decided to take the chance and follow. The dark macaws pushed aside some grass that revealed a large hatch on the ground, similar to the one Blu had. They opened it and beckoned for Blu and Jewel to walk inside before. Slowly, the two blue macaws walked inside of the hideout with the two dark macaws following them and closing their only exit behind them.

"This way, please." the second dark macaw requested and began to escort the blue macaws through their base.

Blu had never expected the dark macaws to be here in Rio for who knows how long, but he intended to find out how long when he met their leader. Along their way through the base, Blu looked around the area to see other dark macaws around, but they appeared nothing like the ones they met before. They were not aggressive towards them and appeared to be quite friendly.

Some of the dark macaws were even teaching others by telling them the ways of their people and how they should truly live instead of the ways they were previously taught. Finally they arrived at a set of double doors which led to their leader's room.

"If you'll wait here please." the second dark macaw quested. He opened one of the doors and spoke to someone inside. "Sir, Blu and his mate Jewel have arrived."

"Very good. Please, send them in at once." a male voice requested.

The dark macaw nodded and held the door open for Blu and Jewel. "If you would like to walk inside, please."

Despite their cautious, Blu and Jewel walked inside the room with the door closing behind them. Inside, they finally met the leader of this band of dark macaws. Blu's eyes widened when he immediately recognized this dark macaw: it was the same one from his dream! The one who had led those light macaws into battle.

With him as a female dark macaw, who shared the same basic appearance as all dark macaws: dark feathers, grey talons and beak. She had light blue eyes and her feathery crown shared a crossover between Jewel's hair and Carley's hair style. She looked a couple of years younger than Blu and Jewel.

"Ah, welcome." the male greeted and approached Blu and Jewel. He raised his talon as a greeting, causing Blu and Jewel to move back slightly in fear he tried something. "I'm glad you arrived. My name is Arvo and this is my daughter Nina."

Blu raised his talon and slowly accepted his greeting. They shook talons. "I'm Blu."

"Jewel." Jewel introduced herself with a nod.

"It's nice to meet you both." Arvo expressed a friendly attitude, but they did not appear to trust him yet. He gestured his wing towards the end of the room where there was a desk with a chair on one side while two more were placed on the other side. "Please, take a seat and we can get straight down to business."

Arvo took a seat behind his desk with Blu and Jewel taking a seat on the two chairs opposite from him. He placed his wings together on the desk and could not help but notice their worried expressions. "You are nervous. I can understand since our kind has been your enemies in the past. It's okay, but I can assure you that I did not bring you here for trouble."

Now was the time for Blu to ask Arvo some of the questions he needed answered. "How do you know who I am? How do you know that we have a mutual problem?"

Arvo inhaled a deep breath as he turned towards Nina, who nodded towards him. "I can understand you have questions and I'll do my best to answer them. I know you are Blu because...Because Nexus was my brother."

Blu and Jewel appeared shocked by this sudden news. This certainly explained why he shared a resemblance to Nexus, except he did not glow and his eyes appeared a normal blue color. It appeared he did not possess any dark powers.

"Nexus...Was your brother?" Blu questioned in a surprised tone.

"Yes." Arvo confirmed with a nod. He looked away for a brief moment and summoned the courage to continue his next words. "And Ivan, Nexus' nephew...Was my son."

This did not help Blu's worries. What if Arvo was unaware that Blu was the one who helped take part in Ivan's destruction and Arvo found out the hard way? That certainly could not end well.

Arvo noticed their worried faces and offered them a smile of reassurance. "Don't feel nervous. I know that you were the one who helped bring down both Nexus and Ivan. My brother and I had different ways of seeing things and he was crowned King while I went into exile to gather what forces did not follow Nexus's rule so we could restore our home to how it should be. I only wished that my son had not followed my brother into his cause. I tried to convince him different, but Ivan wouldn't listen...He was evil but he was still my son."

Blu was unsure what to say at first, but he could not help but feel sympathy for the dark macaw. "I'm sorry, Arvo. I wished it could have been differently."

"So do I, Blu, so do I." Arvo agreed sadly. He tried to shrug off the thoughts of his deceased son and got down to business. "Now I think we should get down to business. The dark macaws will be arriving in Rio soon. They're being led by a dark macaw named Lee. He was one of Nexus' former elite guards. After the death of Nexus, he and the remaining three elite guards fought over who should be the rightful ruler. Lee won while the others had fallen to his sword. He has spent months gathering the dark macaws back so that they can rise again and destroy Rio's jungle like Nexus had planned. We rebels have been fighting them for quite some time now. We need to defeat Lee and then we can end this once and for all."

Blu took in all of Arvo's words and began to think them over. If dark macaws returned, than no doubt he and his family would be a target. "How do I fit into all of this?"

"According to our allies, they have been watching you to make certain that you were safe." Arvo explained which left Blu a little annoyed as he did not like to be watched. "I apologize, but it was necessary. According to our sources, you have four villains to defeat and you have defeated three of them so far, correct?"

Blu nodded in response.

"Well I believe that Lee is the fourth villain you need to face. I want him defeated to restore order to my world and you want him defeated to save yourself and your family. The way I see it, we join forces and we can take down Lee together for both our benefits." Arvo explained. He stood up and offered Blu a wing shake. "What do you say? Will you help us?"

Blu took a moment to think about Arvo's offer. This was a chance to not only defeat the four villains, but to truly take out the dark macaws and restore order to their world. No doubt Arvo could lead his people the right way and if he was going to try something, he would have tried it long ago. He turned towards Jewel for advice, who gave him a look as if she was saying to him "do what you think is right".

Blu smiled and stood up, accepting Arvo's wing shake to accept his proposal. "We have a deal, Arvo."

"Excellent." Arvo smiled. "Welcome to our cause, Blu."

* * *

 **That concludes this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. The dark macaws return, only this time some of them are allies and not enemies. Here we meet Arvo, the younger brother of the late Nexus. Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	28. Chapter 28: the fourth villain

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 28: the fourth villain**

 **Hey everyone, Rico here. Not sure if you're all aware, but there's a little confrontation going on between myself and another author. I can assure you all that it was a misunderstanding and that I have apologized and talked to one of the other author's also involved. Don't worry, we'll solve it soon.**

* * *

With their new business relationship established, Blu and Arvo prepared to get down to business immediately. However, Blu had another question he had yet to ask him that needed answering immediately. Blu, along with Jewel, Arvo and Nina had made their way to a briefing room where they had their plans lined up with a map of the jungle and pictures hung on the walls.

"Arvo." Blu spoke up, catching the dark macaw's attention. "There's something I need to tell you. It's important."

"Of course." Arvo nodded and allowed Blu to speak away. "What is on your mind?"

"I...I had a dream last night." Blu began while he thought that this may be a weird question to the dark macaw, but he started so there was no going back now. "I saw you, leading the light macaws to battle in the middle of the woods. I saw you confront someone named... Kalûr. He was wearing a grey cloak."

Arvo appeared surprised. While Blu claimed that this was a dream, Arvo knew different. "This is certainly strange that you would dream of that, but what you say is indeed true. I trust that everything was not clear in this dream of yours. Allow me to explain what happened."

* * *

"Years ago during a battle against my brother's army when we were trying to rescue a group of prisoners that were being escorted to the dark macaw prison."

 _In the middle of the dark path deep within the woods, a group of dark macaws traveled together while using a lizard to pull a cage on wheels filled with prisoners. Sitting at the edge of the cage was Kalûr who was wearing a grey cloak. As they were around halfway to the prison, they were unaware of the danger ahead._

 _Arvo, along with his fellow rebels and group of light macaws were hiding within the trees and bushes. When Arvo gave the signal, they leaped out into action and ambushed the convoy, catching all of the dark macaws off guard that gave them the advantage._

"We attacked the convoy to rescue our people. They were being led there by Kalûr; he was famous within the dark macaw ranks. He was the leader of the elite guards and served as Nexus' apprentice. When I saw him there too, I took this as chance to take him down. This would have without a doubt delivered a blow to Nexus' army."

 _As the rebels and light macaws subdued the dark macaws, Kalûr took out his sword and leaped into action. A few light macaws moved forward to stop him, but with incredible speed and skill, Kalûr easily dispatched them and killed them with ease. As more of his enemies came closer to him, Kalûr swiftly ran away into the woods to escape rather than fighting all of them at once._

"After we freed the prisoners, I led a strike team to capture Kalûr. This was the only time he had left the castle without an army and it was a chance we had to take to stop him."

 _"We can't let Kalûr escape!" Arvo shouted as he pointed his wingtip towards the direction Kalûr had run towards. "Let's get after him!"_

 _Arvo led the light macaws after Kalûr before he escaped. He was armed with multiple weapons: a sword, a dagger and a bow with arrows. Despite the fact Arvo could have easily flown away, he chose to run instead. Why he did this was a mystery, but that was not the point. The point was to find him now._

 _As Arvo and the light macaws charged through the woods, they eventually caught up with Kalûr who had just reached the edge of a cliff. Without anyway else to run, he turned around and confronted his enemies, who outnumbered him with high odds._

 _Arvo stepped forward with a sword in his wings and pointed his wing towards Kalûr "Give up! You can't win, Kalûr!"_

 _Kalûr did not respond. Instead, he swung his sword around and prepared himself for combat. Arvo raised his weapon and prepared to duel with his enemy. As they prepared to clash swords, a purple flash had come out of nowhere and landed directly at the edge of Kalûr's talons. Before anyone could even blink, the dark essence grenade exploded. Kalûr's lifeless corpse flung into the air and began to plummet towards the ground below._

"Someone threw a dark essence grenade and killed Kalûr. At first I thought it was one of my own men, but then I looked around and was surprised to see who it was."

 _Arvo appeared shocked, but his expression changed when he turned towards the bird responsible. He looked to his left where he was greeted by Nexus' four elite guards who were armed with a variety of weapons: a sword, two daggers, an axe, and a spear._

 _"Nice shot, Lee." the elite guard with the axe praised his ally holding the sword._

 _"Thank you." Lee thanked with a grin and spun his sword around in delight._

 _Arvo stepped forward with his sword raised. "You're Nexus' elite guards! Why did you just kill your commander!?"_

 _"Simple." Lee grinned and placed his sword into the ground to lean on. "I am tired of being ruled under Kalûr and wanted nothing more than for the four of us to take his place. We wish only to take orders from Lord Nexus himself, not his so-called apprentice."_

 _This was not surprising as Arvo knew the dark macaws were filled with nothing but greed and power. He frowned and spun his sword around. "Either way, Lee, you are going to pay for your crimes."_

 _Lee chuckled in response. "As much as I would love to tear you apart right now, I have work to do. Ciao."_

 _Arvo charged towards Lee with his sword raised above his head. As he got closed, however, a cloud of smoke appeared around the four elite guards, blinding Arvo from seeing them. When the smoke had dispersed, the elite guards were no longer present. They had escaped._

 _"Sir?" a light macaw spoke up in concern for their ally._

 _"Let's...Let' just help our own back to base." Arvo ordered as he placed his sword back into his back strap._

* * *

"Lee had betrayed Kalûr in the blink of an eye and in the aftermath, we heard from our spies that Lee had blamed us for killing him." Arvo concluded his story to Blu and Jewel. "That is the story of Kalûr."

This answered everything Blu wanted to know except for one little detail.

"Arvo, is it possible to explain how I dreamed of this?" Blu inquired with an eyebrow raised. There must be a reason why he dreamed of this.

"I'm afraid I cannot think of any explanation." Arvo admitted while shaking his head sideways slightly. "Maybe with some research, I can find out why. It may have something to do with your time in the World of Darkness. We'll find out after we have defeated Lee. For now, let us get to work."

Blu nodded in agreement and walked with Arvo to the planning board.

At that moment, the door to the planning room had burst open with a dark macaw running inside. "Sir! Our spies have located dark macaws within the jungle! Lee is with them!"

"What!?" Arvo question, swiftly jumping around. "Are you certain?"

"Yes!" the dark macaw confirmed with a nod. "We have located their base a few miles from here. They're set up well and look as if they are preparing to announce their arrival soon. No doubt they will be causing trouble."

"Then we must go at once!" Arvo ordered and made haste to go and fetch some equipment.

"Let's go!" Nina told the blue macaws and escorted them through their base, following Arvo to the armory.

Arvo arrived at the armory and grabbed his unique weapons: his personal sword and his personal bow with arrows. After he strapped on all of his weapons tightly, he made haste to get going, bring Blu, Jewel, Nina and a couple of dark macaws with them.

"Arvo, what are we going to do?" Blu inquired while they were running towards the exit of the base.

"We're going to scout out this base and see what we can learn." Arvo explained in a fast tone. It was quite clear he was anxious to get going.

The small group of birds exited the base and immediately took flight into the sky, setting course for this base of Lee's. The dark macaw who had informed them of the base began to lead the small group towards where claimed they had found the base. It was important that they kept a small group to avoid being spotted easily.

* * *

It took some time but they eventually arrived at the small base. Taking camping positions on top of the trees, the small team began to scout out this base. Looking below, they began to identify areas of the base. Small bird-sized tents were set up all across the base, cages were hanging from branches and enemy dark macaws were positioned on the trees around the base to keep an out for intruders. They certainly had this place fortified and it would take an expert to get inside unnoticed.

Arvo looked through the area with a pair of binoculars. He spotted a familiar face at the center of the case speaking with other dark macaws. "Lee."

"He's there?" Blu questioned while trying to see what was happening, but without binoculars, it was difficult to see.

"That's right." Arvo confirmed and passed the binoculars to Blu. "See for yourself. He's the one in the center standing on the stage."

Blu searched around the area for a moment until he located the dark macaw Arvo was referring to. There was Lee, giving a lecture to his men within their base. This was the final villain Blu was going to face. At least he had a head start this time since the other three villains had caught him off guard during their encounter, but now he knew who he was up against.

"I see him." Blu replied and passed the binoculars to Nina. "I've surprised I never met Nexus' elite guards when we last fought against Nexus."

"I assume they were busy fighting with light macaws." Arvo assumed. He had not been present during Nexus' fall and was unaware of Nexus' fall until it was confirmed by his spies. "It does not matter. Three of them are dead now and only Lee remains. For the dark macaws to return how it should be, we must bring him down."

"What's the plan?" Jewel spoke up. "Gather your forces and attack now?"

"No." Arvo shook his head in disagreement. "This isn't all of them. I know that they have a full army somewhere. If we take Lee down now, it will not matter. They'll just find another suitable high ranking soldier to take his place. We must allow them to gather their armies and then we can strike them all down at once."

Blu raised an eyebrow with an unsure expression. While he could understand why Arvo thought this plan was a good idea, he failed to see one thing that Blu pointed out. "Arvo, we have no army to fight them with. We're heavily outnumbered."

Arvo sighed in response. "I know, but what other choice do we have?"

"I think I have an idea." Nina spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "Blu, you must know many locals here, even tribes. We can gather up forces, convince them to work together and then attack the dark macaws when it is time."

Everyone seemed to agree with this idea.

"That's a good idea, Nina." Arvo praised with a smile and a nod. "I am unfamiliar with the locals here, but I am certain that Blu and Jewel here can gather some forces."

"It will be our pleasure, Arvo." Blu agreed with a nod. He thought back to his previous and new adventures and had some ideas on who he could go to for help against the dark macaws. "When we get back to camp, I'll set off immediately to-"

"Look out!" Arvo yelled and suddenly pushed Blu off from the tree.

An arrow flung past them and would have hit Blu had Arvo had not pushed him out of harm's way. Everyone jumped down and descended towards the ground. Blu had been completely caught off guard and did not get the chance to position himself in a flight position. As he fell down below, he felt himself being slowed down but it certainly was not Blu doing that.

He looked around to see that Nina had flown beside him and placed her talons around Blu to slow down his decent. When they reached the ground, she let Blu go and helped him stand.

Blu had never once expected to be saved by a dark macaw, but nevertheless, he expressed his gratitude. "Thank you, Nina."

Nina nodded in response.

Jewel jumped beside Blu and hugged him for a quick couple of seconds, relieved to see he was alive.

"I apologize for pushing you, Blu, but an arrow would have pierced through your head." Arvo explained. He took out his bow when he noticed that they were no longer alone. "It seems we have company. You three!" Arvo pointed at the three dark macaws who had accompanied them to the base. "Head back to the base and ready the troops, I have the feeling we're going to be expecting trouble! Go!"

The three dark macaws nodded before departing away towards the direction they came from. Only Blu, Jewel, Arvo and Nina remained. The four of them turned around when multiple dark macaws arrived from their base and leading them to battle was no other than Lee himself. The four of them prepared themselves for battle, knowing that they had to stand their ground or die.

Five dark macaws moved to the left while the other five moved towards the right. To their front, Lee stood forward with two dark macaw enforces accompanied with him.

"Arvo, Nina, it's been so long!" Lee greeted in a sarcastic enthusiasm tone. He placed his wings towards and narrowed his eyes towards the blue macaws. "Well, well, aren't you both a sight for sour eyes. This must be the infamous Blu and his mate Jewel. I have heard so much about the both of you and have been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time now."

"Lee." Blu hissed and raised his wings in defense. "You're the final and fourth villain. Who hired you and the others?"

Lee appeared confused before chuckling in response. "Villain you say? Well I admit that I am no peaceful loving bird, but as for the others and who hired me? I have no idea what you speak of."

"Don't lie!" Blu snapped and looked as if he was about to lunge forward. He would have if not for Jewel and Arvo stopping him. "I know you worked with Steiner to delay me!"

"Oh that." Lee responded while rubbing two of his wingtips together. "It is true, Steiner and I were working together to stop you. He was to keep you immobile while I took over. As for these others, you must be mistaken. I work for no-one now, only myself. It appears Steiner failed, but no matter, he delayed you long enough. Now that we're back, I will finally bring justice to our world by destroying the blue macaws and the traitor."

"I am no traitor." Arvo responded, knowing that Lee had been referring to him. "I seek to bring an end to these pointless wars while you intend to destroy all for no purpose."

"That's what our kind were destined to do, Arvo." Lee calmly replied. "And you betrayed your own brother."

"No." Arvo shook his head in disagreement. "You are the traitors. This is not how are kind were destined to be. I promise you Lee that soon you will fall and the World of Darkness will be restored to how it should have been a long time ago."

Lee chuckled in response, unfazed by Arvo's threats. "Say what you wish, Arvo, but I know the truth and so do you."

"Oh really?" Arvo questioned, pointing an accusing wingtip towards Lee. "What about when you betrayed Kalûr, Lee? Do not think that I have forgotten that!"

"Kalûr was weak." Lee calmly responded. He turned towards his people who all did not appear to be concerned over this sudden news of Kalûr. He chuckled and gestured towards his people. "You see? They did not care what I have done for they know my actions were justified. Now, enough talk. Arvo, I am going to give you one chance to surrender to me. If you refuse, then I shall be forced to take action. I don't wish to kill you, Arvo out of respect for your brother, but I will do what I must."

Arvo shook his head in disagreement. "Never. I would sooner die than become a pawn in your game."

"Then. I am sorry that I have to do this, old friend." Lee responded. He beckoned for his people to move in and attack.

Arvo, however, was one step ahead. As the enemy moved closer towards them, he turned towards Nina and nodded towards her. Nina nodded in response and before the attack could begin, she swiftly took out a smoke pellet she was carrying a backpack. Before anyone could blink, she tossed the smoke pellet towards the ground, causing it to explode and release a cloud of smoke to hide their presence.

The other dark macaws coughed as they tried to wave the smoke out of their way. All except for Lee that is, who calmly began to walk through the smoke in search of their targets. The smoke cleared away a moment later, but now there were less people than before. Arvo and his people had escaped.

Lee, however, did not appear to be worried by this. He smirked and looked up towards the sky. "Go ahead and run, Arvo, but you will only delay inevitable."

A dark macaw ran towards Lee, waiting for instructions. "Sir, should we pursue them?"

"That will be unnecessary." Lee assured as he began to lead his people back to their camp. "They may know where we live, but that does not matter. We have them outnumbered and have stronger weapons. Our army will be gathered soon and then we can take them all out in a single strike. But first, go and gather up a small squadron."

"Yes sir." the dark macaw nodded, but before leaving to follow orders, he asked the obvious. "May I ask why, sir?"

"That blue macaw was responsible for our king's downfall. We need to prove to him what the consequences of trying to be a hero will get him." Lee explained with a sinister grin. "And I have the perfect plan."

* * *

 **That concludes this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. We are introduced to the fourth villain of the story: Lee, one of Nexus' former elite guards. The dark macaws return and no doubt trouble is soon to follow. Chapter 29 will be here soon.**


	29. Chapter 29: consequences

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 29: consequences**

 **And we are back ladies and gentlemen, with chapter 29. I'd like to thank everyone for staying with my story up until this point and I do appreciate it a lot. To express my gratitude, here is another chapter.**

* * *

During an early afternoon, the two toucan lovebirds Rafael and Eva had finished their afternoon dinner together and were now making their way home. It had been nice to get away for a while to have time for themselves. Now that their kids were quite grown up, they were old enough to take care of themselves without their parents.

"That was a lovely meal, my pudgy papaya." Eva spoke up and leaned over in mid-flight to peck Rafael at the side of his beak.

"The pleasure was all mine, my juicy little mango." Rafael replied with a smile.

As they were not too far from their home now, they halted in mid-air when they noticed familiar faces they never expected to see in a life time again: dark macaws. They were perched on top of the trees, blocking their way back to their home and no doubt looking for trouble.

Rafael gulped in response. Last time he encountered them, they caused him to become temporarily blind. He grabbed Eva and quickly attempted to escape. "Quick, let's go!"

They turned around to retreat towards the direction they came from, but unfortunately, they were blocked by more dark macaws. They were trapped and had nowhere to fly away to. As they searched the area for an exit, three dark macaws flew a few feet away from them. It was no other than Lee, the current leader of the dark macaws. However, Rafael and Eva were unaware to his identity and presence.

"Hello there." Lee greeted with a grin. "Glad you could make it. Now we can get to work."

"Who are you?" Rafael asked while he stood in front of Eva in a protective matter.

"Questions will be answered in the future. For now, we have work to do." Lee responded and watched as more of his people began to fly around Rafael and Eva. "Now, let us talk, shall we?"

* * *

After escaping from Lee and his people, Blu and the team had escaped and retreated back into Arvo's hideout. They were lucky to escape and now it was time to plan a counter attack before Lee assembled his army.

"I hope you have a plan here." Jewel spoke up towards Arvo as they reached the briefing room to discuss their next plan of action.

Arvo, however, only had small ideas so far. "Unfortunately, no I don't. We have our people and the light macaws have agreed to send us some help, but their army is still pretty weak after the fall of their queen. They don't have many people to send us. Lee and his army will outnumber us and we will have no chance of winning. If anyone has any ideas, I am open to hear them."

Everyone present turned towards one another for an answer, but so far, everything was silent. All except for Blu that is, who began to think that he may just have the answer to their problems. As if a lightbulb appeared over his head, he smiled widely and clicked his toes together.

"I have an idea!" Blu enthusiastically called out, catching everyone's attention.

"By all means, please share." Arvo requested while taking a seat down to hear.

"Since all this has started-and I don't just mean the dark macaws, I mean everything that has happened to Jewel and I-I've met some important people and some who should be willing to help." Blu began to explain to those present in the room. "I was training with a secret clan of ninjas and I become good friends with their master. I'm sure I can get him and his clan to help. I met a scarlet macaw tribe while I was searching for my children. While we're not exactly friends, I can tell that they believe in honor and I am certain that I can convince them to help our cause. When news of the dark macaws returning, the military macaws have to help. And I believe we can convince the residents here to help us. With our combined forces, we are a match for Lee's army."

Everyone present took this time to think over Blu's plan. Only birds present were Blu, Jewel, Arvo, Nina and a few dark macaw rebels. Regardless of what the others thought, it was Arvo's choice whenever or not they followed through with this plan of Blu's.

After thinking about this carefully, Arvo made his choice. He smiled and patted Blu on the back. "That sounds like an excellent plan, Blu. We should depart at once to gather them, but in small numbers, of course. We don't want to attract too much attention. I will go with you."

"I'm coming too." Jewel replied, refusing to stay here without Blu.

"I shall join as well." Nina responded. "I think four of us will be enough."

Arvo appeared satisfied with her suggestion and nodded. "Very well. We shall get going at once." he turned towards a nearby dark macaw and gave him very important instructions. "Whatever you do, do NOT open the hideout for anyone unless it's us. Do you understand?"

"Yes Arvo." the dark macaw nodded.

"Good." Arvo smiled and patted him on the back.

With their instructions set, the team of four proceeded to leave the base and make haste to gather their army. It may be tough to convince them to join their cause but for the survival of their home, it had to be done. As they reached the exit of the base, they stopped when a dark macaw had run towards them while gasping.

"Arvo!" the dark macaw rebel gasped and began to take in some breaths. "We...We...We've had reports that...That two of Blu's friends are in danger!"

Blu gasped slightly in response. He placed his wings onto the dark macaw's shoulders. "Who? Who's in danger!?"

"Your...Your friends the toucans! And they're being held in a small area not far from here!" the dark macaw explained. He ran towards the exit of the base while beckoning for them to follow him. "Quickly, follow me!"

The team did not hesitate to follow. The dark macaw led them outside and began to lead the way from where he claimed he had found Rafael and Eva in danger. While they were flying, Blu had two things on his mind: one was his concern for his friends and the second was confusion as to why the dark macaws would attack Rafael and Eva. They had nothing to do with this. Heck, they did not know what was going on.

* * *

As a few moments went by, the four arrived where the dark macaw had escorted them to.

"There." the dark macaw rebel said, pointing towards the location of Rafael and Eva. "They're being held just behind that tree."

"Thank you, solider." Arvo thanked and allowed the dark macaw retreat back to base. He leaned forward and pulled Blu back when he attempted to fly forward. "Whoa, slow down. We don't know what we're running into. Let us hide within the trees and watch."

Blu did not agree, but decided to go along with it for now. "Fine. Come on."

The team of four hid within the trees and remained silent as they watched below. Down upon the ground, Lee and a small group of dark macaws had Rafael and Eva hostage. Two dark macaws restrained Rafael by holding both of his wings while a brute dark macaw held Eva still with ease, keeping her still with his wing over her body.

"What do you want with us?" Rafael asked while he struggled to get free, but the two dark macaws were not loosening their grip.

"As I said before: questions will be answered soon." Lee calmly responded while looking around the area for their enemies. No doubt they would be coming soon. He knew they were watching him, he knew that they would go back to Arvo for help. Any moment now, they would be here.

In the trees, the team of four watched below. Arvo and Nina were remaining calm for now while Blu and Jewel were becoming impatient and willing to help their friends as soon as possible.

"What are we waiting for?" Blu inquired impatiently. "We have to help them!"

"Blu, it's a trap." Arvo stated. He began to think on their best strategy to help the toucans, but it appeared that the blue macaws were not willing to wait. "Look, give me a moment to think."

Blu shook his head in disagreement, refusing to wait while his friends were in danger. "There's no time. I'm going to help them!"

"Blu, no!" Arvo called out as quiet as he could, but his words did not prevent Blu from leaving.

With that, Blu quickly departed down towards the ground with Jewel following him. Arvo was about to follow, but Nina held him back, knowing that if Blu and Jewel were to fail, then that would mean they were their only hope.

Blu landed in the center of the area with Jewel landing beside him seconds later. No doubt that they had caught Lee's attention because he was looking directly towards them.

"Ah, Blu, Jewel. I knew you would both be here." Lee spoke up with a grin. "Welcome."

"Let them go!" Jewel ordered and moved forward to attack, but stopped when the dark macaw brute tightened his grip on Eva.

Lee chuckled in response. "Oh do not worry, I will let them go shortly, but first, I think we need to clear some things up. I am going to make this perfectly clear so I suggest you listen. Blu, you are not going to stand in my way, you will not try to stop me. If you do, I guarantee that everyone you love and care for will suffer for your actions."

Blu appeared worried after hearing Lee's threats. Trying to stop him could cause his loved ones harm, but then again, if he did not stop him than everyone would be in mortal danger. "If I don't stop you, you will simply destroy them anyway. You are a dangerous bird, Lee and I will stop you no matter what."

Seeing that his threats were not taken seriously, Lee decided to go with their second plan. He sighed and rubbed his wingtips together. "Very well, if that is your decision, so be it. Allow me to show you the consequences of being a hero. Boys!"

In what seemed like a fast motion, the two dark macaws that were retraining Rafael pushed the toucan onto the ground belly first. One of the dark macaws released Rafael's right wing but the second dark macaw continued to hold his left one. One dark macaw held his wing out while the second one lifted his talon and stomped directly onto the center of Rafael's wing, breaking it out of place.

"AHH!" Rafael screamed in agony and clutched his eyes tightly; unable to cope with the unbearable pain he had just endured.

"Rafi!" Eva called out, stretching out one of her wings towards him.

Unfortunately for Eva, now it was her turn. The brute dark macaw restraining her raised his free wing above his face and delivered a powerful knife hand strike directly against the back of Eva's neck. She cried out in pain as the brute threw her to the ground.

"NO!" Blu shouted and charged towards Lee in danger. Before he could get to the dark macaw, he felt something lift him from the ground and into the air. He was now restrained inside a net that had leaped up into the air and he was now hanging from a tree branch. He had been caught in a trap.

Jewel, now on her own, tried to take them down herself, but she too stepped into a trap. Out from the ground hidden by the dust, rope leaped out and tied itself around her torso, retraining her wings to her side. She struggled to pull herself free, but these ropes were too tight for her to escape on her own.

Seeing that his work here was done, Lee grinned and looked up towards Blu who was still trapped within a net, struggling to get free. "Now you see what will happen when you try and stop us. Believe me; this was a lot more merciful then what I could have done. Next time, I won't order my men to hold back. Considering this my warning. Stop now or lose everything. Your choice."

With his point made, Lee and his team of dark macaws left the area, leaving the injured toucans. Once they were out of sight, Arvo and Nina flew down to help their allies.

Arvo landed on the branch and took out his sword, using it to cut the net Blu was stuck in. "Blu, if you had just waited, we could have helped them without injuries."

"I couldn't just wait." Blu responded while he tried to keep still within the net. "I had to help them."

"We're just saying that patience is the key to winning this war." Nina added as she began to free Jewel from her restraints.

"It does not matter, what's done is done." Arvo responded. He finished cutting open the net and set Blu free.

Simultaneously, Blu and Jewel were now freed and quickly leaped forward to help their friends. Blu attended to Rafael while Jewel attended to Eva.

"Rafael." Blu spoke and helped the toucan sit up. He leaned forward to take a look at Rafael's wing and could not help buy cringe when he saw the damage the dark macaws had done to him. "Easy. Try not to move."

Jewel helped Eva sat up, placing her wing upon her shoulder. "Eva, are you alright?"

Eva groaned in response while she held wing against the back of her neck. "Ow, my neck. It hurts."

"Try not to move you head." Jewel suggested. If it weren't for Rafael and Eva being injured, she would have chased after Lee and made him pay. But then again, all this wouldn't have happened if that was the case.

Arvo knelt down to Rafael and looked upon his injured wing. "His injuries look serious. They are in too much of a critical condition to move. Blu, Jewel, you both must go on ahead. I will stay with them. Nina, I need you to go back to base and get our medics."

"Yes father." Nina nodded and did not hesitate to fly back towards the way they came to get help.

"I can't leave them." Blu declined.

"I can assure you they will be taken care of in my care." Arvo reassured and took Blu's place in helping Rafael. "Now you must go. I will catch up."

As much as Blu did not want to leave them, he thought it was for the best. Every moment they wasted would be every moment Lee and his army grew stronger. He nodded and turned his attention towards Rafael. "Rafael, this is Arvo. He's a dark macaw, I know, but he's a friend. He'll help you."

Rafael nodded slightly in response, still in pain to speak.

"Arvo, head east of here when you're done. That's where the Red Dragon clan ninjas live." Blu instructed.

Nearby, Jewel was repeating similar words to Eva. "It's going to be okay, Eva. Arvo will take care of you."

"Is he a good guy?" Eva inquired while groaning. It was difficult to keep her head still right now.

"He is, I promise." Jewel assured with a smile.

Now that their friends were reassured that everything was going to be okay, Blu and Jewel made haste to get moving towards the Red Dragon temple. No doubt that they were extremely angry for what Lee had done to their friends, but rest assured that they were going to make him pay for his actions.

* * *

 **And this concludes chapter 29, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Rafael and Eva have been injured by Lee to prove his point and now Blu and Jewel have the job of gathering an army in order to take down Lee and end this. Chapter 30 should be here tomorrow. Until then, stay tuned for more.**


	30. Chapter 30: gathering forces

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 30: gathering forces**

 **Hello to the many authors and readers of FanFiction. We are now on 30 chapters, alright! This story has been going on for more than two months now, but I have the feeling that it will finish this month. We'll see how it goes, in the meantime, here's the next chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

With Rafael and Eva in Arvo's care, Blu and Jewel proceeded to continue forward on their own for now in search of help. Their first destination was the Red Dragon temple or what was left of it anyway since Amanda had almost destroyed it during her attack against the temple. Although Yoshi claimed they were going to move, it seemed he had changed his mind because when Blu and Jewel arrived, there were ninjas stationed in the trees.

"They're still here." Blu spoke up as they landed towards the entrance/exit of the temple. He looked up when a couple of ninjas leaped down from the trees to greet him.

"Blu, you have returned." a ninja greeted with a nod. "Welcome back, brother."

"Thank you." Blu smiled and bowed respectfully to the ninjas who returned the same gesture. While Jewel was unfamiliar with their ways, she did the same too to show her respect. Blu leaned up and asked what he had come here for. "Is Master Yoshi here? I need to speak to him."

"He should be training students within the training halls." the second ninja answered and stood out of the way, allowing Blu and Jewel entrance to their home.

Blu held Jewel's wing and began to escort both of them into the temple. "Come on, Jewel, I'll introduce you to Master Yoshi."

"Sounds like a plan." Jewel agreed with a smile. She was curious to see the bird responsible for training her lovehawk into a warrior and looked forward to thanking him personally.

The two made their way through the Red Dragon temple in search of the master. While they were walking, Blu could not help but take glimpse of the damage Amanda had caused. But the good thing was that there were ninjas currently rebuilding the areas that had been damaged. In time, the temple would be back to what is use to be.

"This place...Looks wonderful." Jewel admitted. Despite the damaged state, she had never witnessed such a place and was astounded to its sightings. "Well, was wonderful. It still is, but I'm sure it use to look better."

"It was." Blu replied. He thought back to when he first came here and was not exactly greeted with hospitality, but in time, they came to accept him into their home.

Finally, after almost searching through the entire temple, they located Yoshi who was in one of the training rooms with his students. While he did not look that damaged from his injuries before, he had bandages wrapped around his torso but his robe hid that.

As Yoshi paced up and down the room while his students were training among themselves, he turned around when he heard the door open and raised a small smile when his eyes met a face he was hoping to see again. He moved forward to greet the blue macaws. "Blu. I am so glad you have returned."

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Master Yoshi." Blu greeted kindly and shared a bow with the smaller macaw. He leaned back up and gestured his wing towards his mate. "Master Yoshi, I would like you to meet my beautiful wife Jewel. Jewel, this is Master Yoshi, my teacher while I was here."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Jewel." Yoshi greeted warmly with a slight nod. "Blu spoke highly of you while he was under my teachings. He cares for you deeply."

Jewel smiled in response and turned towards Blu who began to blush slightly. She rolled her eyes in enjoyment before diverting her attention back towards the smaller macaw. "It's nice to meet you to, Master Yoshi and I would like to personally thank you for teaching Blu how to defend himself. Without your training, we would have been goners in tough situations."

"The training was always within Blu. I merely encouraged him to release it. I thank you, nevertheless" Yoshi reassured. Now that their greetings were over, he was curious as to why Blu had returned here. "May I ask what brings you back to the temple?"

Blu decided to get straight to the point since they did not have a moment to spare. "Master Yoshi, those four villains that I told you about, I am now confronting the final one and he's not alone. He's a dark macaw named Lee who is gathering an army to destroy all of us and fulfill his king's dream. We have rebels of the dark macaw helping us, but Lee's army outnumbers us in strong numbers. I have come to ask for your help. You and your clan are strong warriors and I believe you could help turn the tide in this war."

That was quite some news and a strong request that Yoshi needed to take a moment to think about it. If there was an upcoming war, then no doubt he needed to help play his part otherwise they would no doubt destroy his clan as well. Not only that, but he owed Blu for saving his life and redeeming his adoptive daughter while another one of his students may not have followed the same footsteps.

Finally, Yoshi came to a decision. "If you what you say is true, Blu then my clan and I must take part and help defend our home. I will gather my best ninjas. Do you have somewhere we could meet?"

Blu was about to answer out loud, but he stopped when he suddenly got cautious. Could there be a chance that one of Lee's people was watching right now? While that seemed unlikely, Blu decided to play it safe nevertheless. He knelt down to Yoshi's height and whispered the coordinates of the rebel base.

Yoshi nodded in acknowledgement. "Very well. I will meet you there as soon as possible. I assume that there are other forces you are gathering too?"

"I'm on my way to the scarlet macaw clan as we speak." Blu answered before preparing to leave the temple now that he had confirmation that Yoshi was going to help. "Thank you, Master Yoshi. I appreciate the help."

"It is the least I could do. You saved my life after all." Yoshi reminded. He pointed his staff towards the exit of the room. "Now both of you better get moving. You have more forces you need to gather. Rest assured that I will meet you there when the time is right."

With that, Blu and Jewel bowed in respect to Yoshi who returned the same gesture. Now that they had one ally force going to help them, it was time to get moving and gather some more reinforcements for the battle against the dark macaws may not be far away. Who knows, it could even happen tomorrow.

Blu and Jewel reached the exit/entrance of the temple and walked outside to see two dark figures waiting for them outside. Blu looked up towards one of the ninjas hiding in the trees and nodded towards him as if he was trying to tell him that the two figures were not a threat. The ninja nodded and beckoned for his people to remain where they were positioned.

Blu and Jewel flew forward to join Arvo and Nina in the middle of the jungle. They caught up a lot faster than Blu had predicated, but that did not matter right now. The only thing on his mind was to continue gathering their forces.

"How did it go?" Nina inquired.

"I have Master Yoshi's help. He will be helping us in the battle against Lee." Blu reassured them, but now he decided to ask the question that had been racing around his mind for a while now. "How are Rafael and Eva? Did you get them to safety? Are they going to be okay?!"

Arvo calmly placed his wing out to ease Blu's worries before he let his fears get control of him. "Relax. Your friends are safe and in care. Their injuries were not as bad as we thought, but they are still quite crucial. Rafael's wing has been broken out of two places and Eva has a sprained neck. Our medics have confirmed that their injuries will heal, but it may take some time. We have placed them in our hideout for protection and we went a couple of our allies to fetch their children too. Rest assured they are safe."

This eased Blu and Jewel's worries now that they had confirmation that the toucans were going to be alright. They didn't deserve to be injured like that when they had done nothing wrong in the first place, but no doubt that they were going to make Lee pay for his crimes against them.

"Where to next?" Nina inquired while crossing her wings together.

"Our next destination is the scarlet macaw tribe, but first, Jewel and I have something else we need to do. We have to check on our children and make certain that they are safe." Blu replied with Jewel nodding in agreement.

"Very well." Arvo nodded and gestured his wing towards the sky. "Please lead the way."

Blu and Jewel took flight into the sky with the dark macaws following them seconds later. They were looking forward to seeing their children again as they were no doubt worried for their parents. While they set course towards their home, they halted in mid-air when they heard familiar voices.

"Blu! Jewel!"

"Wait up!"

"Nico? Pedro?" Jewel spoke up and looked around for the duo who approached them from nearby.

"Guys! Look out!" Nico warned and pointed his wing towards Arvo and Nina. "D-D-D-Dark macaws!"

Blu swiftly spun around, expecting to have been ambushed by Lee's people. However, it took him a moment to realize that they were referring to Arvo and Nina, mistaking them for enemies. He quickly calmed the duo down before they panicked too much. "Guys, relax! This is Arvo and Nina, they're friends."

Nico and Pedro raised their eyebrows in confusion and turned towards each other before speaking simultaneously. "Friends?"

"Yes." Jewel confirmed while she was unsure on where to start. "Look, a dark macaw named Lee is going to have his army invade soon. Arvo here is Nexus' brother and Nina's his daughter, but they're not evil, they are a part of a group of rebels who want to stop Lee. Look, can we explain on the way please?"

Nico and Pedro still appeared to be confused, but if they could explain everything to them on the way back to the blue macaw's home, then everything may become clearer.

"Sure thing, baby bird." Nico agreed.

"Lead on." Pedro said, nodding towards the direction they were heading towards.

Now that was taken care of, the group of birds continued their flight towards Blu and Jewel's home with Blu explaining everything that was occurring on the way there: the army, Lee, Arvo, Nina, Rafael and Eva injured, their plan and many more facts included.

* * *

By the time they were finished speaking, they arrived at the blue macaw's home and descended towards the bottom of the tree where the hatch was.

Blu leaned down and knocked the right amount of times. A few seconds later, the hatch opened and before Blu could blink, he was tackled down by his four children. He laughed and hugged them close. "Hey kids."

"Have you been okay without us?" Jewel inquired as she sat beside them and hugged Crystal and Azul.

"It's been okay." Rey assured, but he too had question on his mind. "Is it over now?"

"I'm afraid not, honey." Jewel admitted while shaking her head side to side in disagreement. She released them from her embrace and introduced her children to their new friends. "Kids, this is Arvo and Nina. They are going to be helping us against the final villains."

The kids appeared surprised since they remembered the dark macaws as enemies, but they trusted their parents and knew that they would not be friends with the dark macaws unless they were stupid.

"Are you coming back now?" Crystal inquired with a hopeful expression.

"Not yet, honey." Blu answered. "There's still a war going on and until this is over, Arvo and Nina need our help. We just came back to check on you and make sure you were okay."

The blue macaw kids appeared disappointed yet they understand that their parents were needed elsewhere for now.

"We know it's lonely and we don't like leaving you alone like this, but it's to keep you safe." Blu reminded the four children who merely nodded in response.

Nico and Pedro turned towards each before nodding as if they were confirming something with each other.

Nico took off his bottle-cap and stepped forward, clearing his throat to gain everyone's attention. "If you like, we can watch your children while you guys and gals are gone."

"Really?" Jewel asked with her hopes raised.

"Yeah, sure!" Pedro agreed and playfully began to rub his wing against Azul's head. "We'll take good care of them."

Blu smiled and nodded in appreciation, never feeling more relieved to save friends like them. "Thank you, guys. Jewel and I appreciate it a lot."

"Not a problem." Nico assured and placed his bottle-cap back upon his head. "Ya'll better get going now."

Now that the kids had someone to take care of them, Blu quickly instructed the duo on what to do if someone arrived and how they would know it was them. After confirmation that they understood, Nico and Pedro led the blue macaw kids back the hideout, locking it behind them in the process. Now with adults watching them, Blu and Jewel could feel less worried in concern for their children.

"You have great friends." Arvo spoke up. "It must be nice always having friends that you could rely on for anything."

"That's right." Blu confirmed with a nod. "They are more than friends. They're family. If it weren't for Nico and Pedro playing a part in our lives, Jewel and I might not have ended up together." as he closed his sentence, he placed his wing around Jewel.

"That's good." Arvo agreed. He did not have that many friends or family due to his devotion to leading the rebels. He turned towards his daughter and smiled. "Nina is my only family now. I would give my life to keep her safe."

Nina raised a small smile in response.

"Now, let us be on our way." Arvo replied and prepared to take flight. "We have more forces to gather. Blu, if you would do the honors of please."

Blu nodded and began to ascend into the sky with the others following seconds later. He set course towards the scarlet macaw clan in hopes of negotiating an alliance with Felipe and his people. It may be difficult to convince him to help, but what other choice did they have? They needed an army to battle Lee and needed as many forces as they could gather.

* * *

Deep within a darker area of the jungle that was not home to any locals due to its fearsome appearance, the dark macaw Lee and his followers waited by a portal that had been created by their only wizard within their team. Due to their only being one wizard, the portal could not transport that many troops and therefore, this prevented them from gathering their armies all at once.

Lee watched as more of his troopers exited the portal and was now in the jungle of Rio. He grinned and personally walked forward to greet them. He spread out his wings in a friendly gesture as his reinforcements lined up in formation. "My fellow brothers and sisters, welcome to Rio! We are now one step closer to fulfilling Lord Nexus' dream of destroying this pathetic excuse of a home."

The other dark macaws cheered in response with either their wings or weapons raised in the air.

Lee clasped his wings together and waited until they were silent. "Now as you are aware that due to our current state, we are unable to transport everyone here at once, but that does not matter. Soon all of our forces will be gathered together as one and we can finally destroy these pathetic wildlife animals. First we will destroy their homes, then we will gather them all up and take them as our slaves or finish them off, but the most important part of our plan is to take down two of our sworn enemies: the blue macaw responsible for murdering our king and the king's brother who has rebelled against him for many years. Soon we will destroy them both and victory will be ours!"

The dark macaws once again cheered in response but now they were a lot louder than before. They were no doubt willing to follow Lee for his path of destruction. Lee smiled in delight as he allowed his guards to escort the dark macaws to their camps until the time was right. Every time new units were transported through the world, he would repeat that same speech to motivate them for the journey ahead.

Soon the rest of their army would be here and then he could finally fulfil Nexus' dream of destroying this wasteland. Lee would not deny that he sometimes wished the remaining elite guards were here to help him, but they were forced to fight one another for the title of leader and Lee was the victories one.

Lee approached the wizard as he finished closing the portal. "I take it that is all you can do for today?"

"I'm afraid so, General." the wizard admitted while catching his breath in exhaustion. "This world has no powers and it makes it difficult for me to gather my strength."

"I can assure you that all this will be worth it soon once our army is here." Lee assured the older dark macaw. "Come, I think it is time we retreated back to our camp to rest up for a while. We have much work to do."

* * *

 **And that concludes this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. Blu's journey to gather forces begins while Lee continue's to assemble his own army. Chapter 31 coming soon.**


	31. Chapter 31: scarlet macaw arena

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 31: scarlet macaw arena**

 **Greetings ladies and gentlemen. We are back with chapter 31 and I have bought you all a chapter a little longer than usual. I usually go up to 3,000 words on each chapter, but this one an additional 1,600 words added onto it, making this whole chapter 4,600 words long. Well, at least that's what my document said anyway. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

With the Red Dragon ninjas agreeing to join their cause, Blu, Jewel, Arvo and Nina were now setting course for their next destination: the scarlet macaw clan. No doubt that it might be difficult convening them to help, but they had to try. While they were flying with Blu and Arvo in front, Jewel flew a little closer towards Nina so they could speak while flying.

"Your father seems like a really nice guy." Jewel complimented while she herself was slightly surprised that she could compliment a dark macaw.

"Thank you." Nina thanked with a slight nod of appreciation. "He is a kind man with goodness in his heart. He only wants to see the wars end and have peace brought to our home."

That reminded Jewel to ask a question that had been racing around her mind for a while now. "Forgive me for asking, but will Arvo be crowned the new king when all this is over?"

"Well we need to vote of course, but I am confident what you say will be likely to happen." Nina answered. She had great trust for her father and knew he could lead their people without a doubt. "Our people look up to Arvo as a great leader. No-one else is suitable to be chosen as our new leader."

Jewel smiled in response. "Thank you for answering. I'm sure your father will make a perfect king."

Nina smiled too, but seconds later, her expression changed into a slightly sad one. Jewel noticed this and was confused to Nina's sudden sad expression. Was it something she said to upset her? Before Jewel could inquire as to what was bothering her, Nina spoke first.

"Arvo...Is not my real father." Nina responded while trying to keep silent to prevent Arvo from hearing her.

Jewel's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Arvo's not your father?"

Nina nodded in confirmation. "Yes. Both of my parents were killed a long time ago when I was only a baby. Arvo found me and took me in, raising me as his own child. He cared for me, fed me, gave me a home and his love. He's the only family I have left now." a tear began to roll from Nina's eye, but she used her toe to wipe it away before Arvo noticed.

Jewel could not help but feel sympathy for the dark macaw as she could relate to how she was feeling. She too had lost her family a long time ago, her father, her mother, and her aunt. She may have Blu and her four children now, but the memories of her family would never leave her. "I'm sorry, Nina. I didn't know, otherwise I wouldn't have said anything."

"It's alright." Nina assured while managing to raise a small smile across her beak. "You didn't know. I will tell you more later, we have work to do."

Jewel nodded and decided to keep quiet for the rest of the flight. Finally they arrived at the scarlet macaw and no doubt they had already caught the clan's attention. As they came into land, the scarlet macaws ceased from what they are doing and diverted their attention to their visitors. They were not exactly happy to have outsides in their home, but it was their leader's choice.

Blu stepped forward and decided that he would be the one to do the talking. He raised a wing and waved to the scarlet macaws. "Hey everyone. It's just me. Is Felipe here?"

The scarlet macaws did not respond. Instead, they moved aside and made a path to their leader who was sitting in his man-made throne. Without saying anything, the four of them began to walk through the crowd of the scarlet macaws until they were only a few feet away from the leader of the clan.

Felipe recognized Blu from before and seemed surprised to see him. "Blu? It's you."

"Hello Felipe." Blu greeted while choosing his next words carefully.

"Everyone get back to what you were doing." Felipe ordered his clan when they continued to stare at their visitors closely. With orders however, they turned and continued their activates they were doing before. Felipe jumped from his throne to greet the four of them. "I assume that you found your children?"

"I did, thank you." Blu thanked with a nod, but now he decided to cut straight to the point. Every second they wasted meant more time for Lee to gather his army. "Felipe, I have come to you to ask for your services to help us."

Felipe raised an eyebrow in response and crossed his wings together. "Help you with what exactly?"

"There is a war coming to the jungle and everyone you know and love will be destroyed." Arvo spoke up and explained the situation in small words. While they agreed Blu would do the talking, he felt the need to speak up. "Our enemy is gathering an army and to fight back, we need an army of our own. That is why we have come to you, for we are outnumbered by our enemy."

While they were speaking, Jewel had curiously been examining Felipe from a distance. There was something familiar about him, something that she should have remembered. However, she could not quite place a talon on where she had seen this scarlet macaw before.

Felipe hummed and placed two wingtips under his beak, beginning to stroke it slowly. This was quite some news to take in at once and he needed a little bit of time to think things over. He did not expect to work with others again, but since it appeared that everyone was going to have a common goal, then it seemed it would be wise for him to help. "Alright. I will join with your army IF you prove your worth to our people."

"And how exactly do I do that?" Blu inquired, but deep down he had the feeling he knew what was about to come.

"My people believe in honor. For us to follow you in your cause, then you must prove your worth to my people. In a battle arena nearby is where our people train for combat. There you must prove your worth by defeating our best warriors in combat." Felipe explained while he was pacing up a down during speaking.

As if Blu predicated everything that had just occurred, he was right. Blu had confidence he could do this, but as for patience, he was running out of it. "Felipe, I don't have time for this. The army could attack any day!"

"I'm sorry, but this is the only way you will get my forces to help you." Felipe responded. "Your choice."

Blu sighed and turned towards the others for advice on what to do in this situation.

"Blu, do what you have to do. For our home." Jewel suggested as she placed her wing upon his shoulder.

"This seems like the only way to gain their help and we will need it. Do this, Blu, for the fate of your home." Arvo agreed with Felipe and thought it was best that Blu took part in this battle arena to prove his worth.

Nina was the last one to speak. She was not the best when it came to suggests since she usually let her father do all the talking. "Blu, it appears we don't have an alternative option. Do what you need to do."

With his wife's and friend's advice, Blu nodded and turned back towards Felipe with an answer. "Felipe, I accept your challenge."

"Excellent." Felipe smiled slightly and gestured his wing elsewhere. "Follow me to the arena."

Within another area of the scarlet macaw tribe was a small open area that served as the battle arena for training. It was not a large arena as only two competitors would usually battle one another at a time. When Felipe escorted Blu and his friends to the battle arena, he began to explain the rules while two other scarlet macaws were currently sparring. A few other scarlet macaws were present too, watching the sparring commence.

"Allow me to explain the rules, Blu." Felipe spoke up as he took a seat in yet another man-made throne. "Two competitors will enter the battle arena and duel. The main rules here are no leaving the arena circle and absolutely no killing. As you are the challenger, the people you will face will get to choose the terms on how they fight. That's all you need to know."

"Sounds simple." Blu replied confidently. He turned around and waited until the current watch was over between other scarlet macaws.

The match ended between the scarlet macaws a moment later with one of the becoming victories when he tackled his competitor to the ground before holding him in a wing lock, preventing him from moving that caused the scarlet macaw to tap out. When it was announced it was over, the two scarlet macaws stood up and nodded towards each other in respect.

Felipe spoke up to gather the scarlet macaw's attention as he explained today's events. "Ladies and gentlemen, today we have a special event: we have an outside here wishing to prove his worth by becoming the victor in our battle arena to gain our trust. He seeks our help with an upcoming war and may only gain our trust by becoming the best. Sergeant Neville, you may take over."

"Yes Felipe." Neville the sergeant scarlet macaw nodded. He was in charge of the battle arena and served as a teacher and a coach.

Before the match could begin, Jewel had gasped when her eyes met a familiar face. She walked closer to the scarlet macaw sergeant. "Neville?"

The scarlet macaw known as Neville turned towards her direction. At first, he was confused to her surprised expression, but a moment later, he too appeared surprised when he recognized the blue macaw before him. "Jewel?"

Blu raised an eyebrow and turned towards his mate. "Jewel, do you know him?"

Jewel did not respond. Instead, she and the scarlet macaw Neville approached each other. Neville had his wings spread out as he prepared to hug his former friend. However, when they were close, Jewel had not returned the greeting like he hoped. Instead, she curled her wing into a fist and struck Neville across his face.

Neville groaned and rubbed his wing against the side of his face. "What was that for?!"

"That was for not being around after my clan was destroyed!" Jewel exclaimed and jabbed her talon against his chest. "Whatever happened to, "Don't worry, Jewel, I'll protect you"?"

Before the situation got any more out of hand, Blu stepped forward and demanded an explanation as to what was happening here. "Hey, hey! Jewel, can someone please explain to me what is going on here?!"

Jewel inhaled a couple of deep to calm herself down while Blu and Felipe were a little puzzled as to what was happening. A couple of scarlet macaws had attempted to step in, but Felipe beckoned for them to remain where they were.

Once Jewel was in a calmer state of mind, she explained the situation. "Blu, back when I was living with my family, our clan and Felipe's clan use to live beside one another. We had the occasional argument now and again, but we always respected each other. I knew Neville from the other clan and we were good friends. Neville promised to help me should something happen one day, but that's when the loggers arrived and destroyed our home, and you Neville, were nowhere to be seen! I should kick your sorry butt!"

"Hey, don't blame me." Neville replied, attempting to defend himself. "I thought you and the others were all gone. Felipe and the rest of us searched for survivors, but no-one was found."

Before further arguments were exchanged, Arvo stepped up and placed his wings in between the two, separating them apart. "I understand that you all may have personal problems, but can we not do this now please? We have a war upon us soon."

As much as she wanted to take out her anger, Jewel calmed herself for the sake of the mission. "Fine."

Neville groaned as he finished rubbing the side of his face. He stepped up and prepared to begin the trials for Blu. "Blue macaw, step up for your first challenge."

Before Blu stepped forward, Jewel pecked him at the side of his beak. "Good luck, Blu. I know you can do it."

Blu smiled and nodded before stepping into the arena. He entered the circle on one side while a scarlet macaw entered from the opposite side.

"Blue macaw, you will first fight with Damas. He is young and has not yet been able to beat someone. But as you are the challenger, he gets to pick the terms." Neville explained and turned towards Damas to hear his terms. "Damas, what are your terms?"

"No kicking or flying. Only using your wings to fight with." Damas displayed his terms and prepared himself for battle. As a recruit, he still had much to learn but felt he could win this round with an outsider.

"Very well. Damas wishes to fight you only wing on wing. No kicking or flying and no leaving the circle either." Neville warned. "Now, begin!"

With the match announced, Damas charged towards Blu without even planning his attack. Blu, however, merely stood where he had been standing since he entered the arena. Damas began to throw multiple hits towards Blu who dodged each one with ease. It was clear that Damas was not thinking about his attack and was simply relying on strength.

As Damas continued to throw his many hits, Blu raised his wing and blocked his next attack. Before Damas could continue, Blu swiftly spun around while holding Damas' wing in his own and flipped the scarlet macaw over his shoulder, causing him to land on his back. Blu continued to hold his wing while he placed his talon against Damas' chest to keep him down.

Damas struggled to get free, but regardless, he was pinned down and could not get himself free. He sighed in defeat and did not put up any more of a struggle.

"The match between the blue macaw and Damas is over." Neville declared the round was now over. "The blue macaw is the clear and honorable winner, but it is not surprising you won this fight considering Damas was only a recruit."

Blu stepped back and allowed Damas to get him and walk away from the arena, joining the other competitors standing outside the circle. Now it was time to face another scarlet macaw.

"Next you will face Falco. He has been a warrior for a short while now, but he is more than capable of holding his own." Neville announced and turned towards the new scarlet macaw that entered the arena. "Falco, what are your terms?"

"I wish you fight the blue macaw using staffs, sergeant." Falco requested while he cracked his neck side to side.

"Very well." Neville nodded and beckoned for a couple of scarlet macaws to throw in some combat staffs. "Falco wishes to fight you with staffs. I hope you know how to use that thing."

Little did they know is that Blu knew how to wield that staff just fine. He caught the staff thrown to him and began to spin it around in his wings, remembering Yoshi's teachings. "I am ready."

"Begin!" Neville announced.

Blu and Falco moved closer towards one another while armed with their staffs. When they were in each other's reach, they began battle, whacking their staffs against the other. Blu was focusing more on the defensive line while Falco was focusing on the offensive attack, throwing everything he had towards Blu.

Blu broke through Falco's defensive and was able to whack his staff against Falco's chest, knocking him backwards, He moved forward to continue, but Falco recovered and pushed his staff against Blu's to push him backwards. They ran forward and continued to battle while it seemed that neither one of them were making much progress.

During the battle, Falco ducked and used his staff to swipe under Blu's talons in an attempt to trip him over. Blu leaped up and watched as the staff mist him by inches. As Falco raised his weapon, Blu leaped down and whacked his staff directly against Falco's forehead, stunning the scarlet macaw from the impact of the blow.

As Falco stumbled backwards while holding a wing against his head, Blu calmly knocked his staff from his wing before gently pushing him down. He moved forward and placed his staff against Falco's neck.

"The match between the blue macaw and Falco is over." Neville declared. "The blue macaw is the clear and honorable winner. It appears that he is far more skillful that we thought. Now, however, it is time for you to face a true warrior."

As Falco got himself up and exited the battle arena, another scarlet macaw stepped in from the ground to join in battle.

"Next you will face Téo. He has been a warrior for quite some time now and looks forward to a good match." Neville announced as a new scarlet macaw prepared himself for combat. "Téo, what are your terms."

"No blocking or countering." Téo requested while he stretched out his wings to prepare for battle. "We will fight using a great deal of raw power."

"Very well. Téo wishes to only use your attacks without any means of blocking or countering attacks." Neville announced. "Begin."

Now that Blu was unable to use any means of blocking, he would have rely on strength. Or did he? As he waited for Téo to begin his attack, he thought about his new strategy that might just work. Téo lunged forward and threw a hit towards Blu who calmly dodged out of the way.

Téo appeared confused for a moment until he was aware of what happened. He called out to Neville during the battle. "Sergeant, the macaw is going against the terms!"

"Actually Téo, he is not." Neville responded, confusing the scarlet macaw. "You said no blocking or counter, you did not say anything about dodging."

It appeared that Téo did not think about that, but nevertheless, he was not going to let that stop him. He lunged forwards Blu and tackled him to the ground and began to repeatedly strike him from side to side against his face.

Since Blu was not allowed to block, he had to take in these injuries or he'd be disqualified for not following the terms and therefore would be unable to gain Felipe's trust. As Téo threw another strike towards Blu's face, he moved his head out of the way and tricked Téo into hitting the ground. He pushed the scarlet macaw off and cracked his neck side to side. Now it was his turn.

As Téo tried to ease the pain in his wing, Blu moved forward to begin his own attack. He delivered a strike that knocked Téo down onto his knees and proceeded to deliver an uppercut that knocked the scarlet macaw down onto his back. He positioned himself on top of Téo and began to deliver his own attack, hitting Téo against his face as fast as he could.

After taking in quite some hits, Téo raised both of his talons and kicked Blu off from him, knocking him quite some distance back. Blu recovered and charged towards Téo who in return, did the same.

Téo threw a couple of kicks that knocked Blu back, but not enough to injure him. Blu began striking him against his face yet again. After striking him at least five times, he slammed his talon into Téo's stomach before throwing him to the ground.

Téo, however, was not quite down yet. He leaped up and threw a couple of more kicks towards Blu, taunting him while doing so. "That all you got?" he leaped up and delivered a kick against Blu's face, causing him to stumble backwards.

The two charged yet again and got into a grapple, both trying to push the other backwards. While they were fighting, Blu caught a glimpse of Felipe whispering something to Neville but he did not have the time to worry about that right now. Preparing to end this, he delivered a powerful head-butt against Téo before grabbing his wing and beginning to bend it in an incorrect position.

Téo yelled in pain as Blu began to push him to the ground while still holding his wing in an incorrect position. He let go when he got Téo to the ground before delivering a powerful strike against the scarlet macaw's face. The force of the strike was so powerful that Téo was now too exhausted and too weak to continue battling. He groaned and stayed down, accepting his defeat.

"The match between the blue macaw and Téo is over." Neville declared. "The blue macaw is the clear and honorable winner. You have fought like a true warrior today and it appears that you are much more skillful that we predicated."

Téo summoned the strength to get himself up and exit the battle arena.

"I was planning to put you up against more warriors first, but Felipe and I just had a talk. Since you claim there is war coming and that you have proven yourself to be a great warrior so far, we are preparing to put this battle to an end soon. You will now face our best warrior, Bento." Neville announced as a new scarlet macaw prepared himself for combat. This explained what Felipe had whispered to Neville. "Bento, you are our champion and our greatest warrior. What are your terms?"

"No terms today, sergeant." Bento declined, surprising almost everyone present. "I wish to fight the blue macaw with all of his strength and skill. No holding back."

"Very well. Bento has no terms and you may fight how you wish. Still, no killing and no leaving the battle circle." Neville reminded one final time. He looked forward to seeing this battle since no-one had been able to defeat Bento in a battle before. "Begin."

Blu and Bento began to circle each other in the arena, both waiting for the other to attack. As they continued to circle each other, Blu swiftly threw a strike towards Bento who dodged and delivered a kick to Blu's torso. He threw his own hit towards Blu, who blocked and moved aside.

The two began to rapidly throw strikes against each other, blocking and countering the other. Both macaws appeared to be equally matched and were not making much progress against the other. During the fight, Bento leaped up and delivered a rapid attack of kicks, kicking Blu back multiple times.

Blu groaned as recovered his footing, but by the time he recovered, Bento had struck him across the face before proceeding to kick him in the stomach, winding Blu. It looked as if the match was over from Jewel's point of view, but Blu was not prepared to give up yet. As Bento moved forward to continue, Blu leaped up delivered two strikes against Bento's face before delivering a kick to his stomach.

Bento attempted to throw a kick towards Blu, who caught his talon with his wing. Before Bento could react, Blu slid his talon under Bento's leg and tripped him down. Bento fell with Blu purposely falling down with him to pin him down.

With Bento on the ground, Blu raised his right wing and proceeded to beat down Bento radially, not easing up the scarlet macaw one bit. He would have stopped if it were not for the upcoming war, meaning that he had to win this battle.

He continued hitting Bento a few more times until he finally stopped himself when Bento was unable to defend himself any longer. Blu wiped the sweat from his face and stood up, exhausted from the battle.

"The match between the blue macaw and Bento is over." Neville declared. "The blue macaw is the clear and honorable winner. He has beaten Bento and is now the champion of our tribe. We will not forget the honor you have earned this day."

Blu took a couple of bows as everyone around him cheered. However, instead of walking away and accepting his victory, he turned back towards Bento and offered him his wing. Bento, in his weakened state, appeared surprised at first, but accepted Blu's wing and was helped brought to his feet. The two macaws nodded towards one another as a sign of respect before departing their separate ways.

Blu joined his wife and friends where an enthusiastic Jewel ran up to him and embraced Blu. He smiled and returned the hug, spinning Jewel around for a couple of seconds.

"Blu, I knew you could do it." Jewel praised with a smile. She leaned forward and locked her beak into Blu's, sharing another one of their romantic kisses.

Blu was caught off guard, but nevertheless, smiled. They broke away from the kiss as the dark macaws and Felipe joined them.

"Congratulations Blu, you have proven yourself worthy." Felipe congratulated with a nod. "I will keep true to my word and gather my forces. When and where do we meet?"

Instead of Blu answering, Arvo moved forward and whispered the coordinates into Felipe's ear, still nervous that there could be spies watching them. With the knowledge of the location, Felipe nodded and allowed the four of them to leave his tribe, but not before promising them he would keep true to his word.

Before they left, Jewel turned towards Neville and with a small smile; she winked towards him, letting him know that she was still his friend. Neville raised a small smile too and nodded towards his blue macaw friend. Before long, the blue macaws and dark macaws up into the air and celebrated Blu's victory.

"That was some impressing combat, Blu." Arvo praised. "In all my ears as a ranger, I have never seen someone fight with such honor and skill. You have my respect for that."

"Mine too." Nina agreed with a smile and a nod.

"Thanks everyone." Blu thanked. "We still have one more force to gather. Follow me."

* * *

Within the dark macaw camp, Lee sat in his personal tent while reading through his plans. When their army was assembled, they had to plan their attacks carefully otherwise they would be without a plan.

As Lee read his plans in silence, he looked up when one of his captains walked in the tent with urgent news.

"General." the dark macaw greeted. "We have been keeping eyes on the blue macaw and Arvo as you instructed. We have just located them leaving a scarlet macaw tribe."

"It seems that the blue macaw has ignored my warnings." Lee assumed the obvious and stood up. It came quite clear that no amount of threats were not going to stop Blu from helping Arvo. "Very well. Make certain that they don't lose sight of them. I am going to personally get them."

"As you wish, General." the dark macaw bowed and proceeded to do as he was instructed.

Lee grinned and placed his wings together and sighed while speaking to himself. "Blu, Blu, Blu, you couldn't just listen, could you? Very well, it seems that I am going to take matters into my own wings. Prepare yourself, Blu for I will make you suffer for your interruptions."

* * *

 **And that concludes this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. We have a special guest in this chapter: Neville Wayne, owned by Loco Vampire. Now I wasn't going to take any other author ocs in this story, but Loco Vampire is a good friend of mine and he has helped me out by creating his amazing drawings and I believed he deserved to have his character have an appearance in my story.**

 **Anyhow** **, chapter 32 will be here soon.**


	32. Chapter 32: captured

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 32: ambush**

 **Hello everyone, Rico here with chapter 32. Now before we begin the chapter, I would like to give a shoutout to author Nathaniel Hawk. He has recently created a video of top 5 author's of Rio FanFiction and he put me as number 1. I really do appreciate it and wanted to dedicate this chapter to him. Thank you, Nathaniel.**

 **Now onward with chapter 32.**

* * *

Blu, along with Jewel, Arvo and Nina set course towards the military macaw prison in hopes of convincing them to finally help them as they could not take action without any evidence. With the location of Lee's base, the military were certain to help now, but even if they did, they would be outnumbered which is why they had gathered the Red Dragon clan and the scarlet macaw tribe.

As they were halfway towards the prison, Blu had suddenly been pushed from the sky by Arvo. He almost lost his flight balance and was about to question as to why Arvo did that, but seconds later, he understood why. A dark macaw solider would have tackled him had Arvo not pushed him out of harm's way.

"Ambush!" Arvo yelled and began to dodge the dark macaws charging towards them from the sky.

The four took up a defensive position as dark macaws moved forward to stop them. Blu attempted to hold them back, but using combat in mid-air was tricky since he needed his wings to keep himself in flight.

As the ambushed commenced, Blu and Jewel were forced to fly down in order to avoid the dark macaws, getting separated from Arvo and Nina in the process. They were on their own with multiple dark macaws chasing them.

They reached the ground and moved back to back as dark macaws moved in and surrounded them with no way out. Their only option now was to hold them back in hopes of a miracle, but that seemed unlikely for now. That did not mean that the blue macaws were going to give up that easily.

"Get them!" a dark macaw yelled and charged towards. He threw a few hits towards Blu, missing each time.

Blu grabbed onto the dark macaw's wing and swung him around, throwing him into another group of dark macaws. He got into his combat position and prepared to hold back more of them. A dark macaw attempted to fly kick Blu, only for the blue macaw to grab a hold of his talon and swung him around before letting go and allowing the dark macaw to hit a nearby tree.

A dark macaw grabbed onto Jewel from behind and held her still. He cheered, mistakenly thinking that he was holding a defensive woman. "I got her!"

Jewel leaned forward and leaned back as fast as she could, whacking the back of her head into the dark macaw's beak that caused him to let go in pain. She turned around and delivered a strike against his face, knocking him back until he stumbled over.

"The girl's tough!" the same dark macaw groaned while holding onto his beak in pain.

Two dark macaws grabbed onto Blu's wings in an attempt to restrain him. Blu groaned and used all of his strength to slam the two dark macaws together. He leaped up as a dark macaw tried to tackle him and slammed his talons down against that same dark macaw, knocking him down.

Jewel waited as a dark macaw prepared to charge himself towards her. He did so in a matter of seconds, attempting to tackle her. As he threw his wing towards her, Jewel bit her beak against his wing as hard as she could, causing the dark macaw to cry out in agony. She let him go out of her grip before clawing his stomach and calmly pushed him downwards. She could have done worse, but with all of these dark macaws around her, then she was going to need to save her energy.

A dark macaw drew his sword and began to swerve it around in multiple directions towards Blu who began to dodge each strike. As a second dark macaw moved forward with his own sword, Blu flipped behind the dark macaw he was currently battling and placed one wing around his neck while grabbing the dark macaw's wing in the other. He used the dark macaw and forced him to fight against his own man, causing them both to clash their swords against each other. He eventually pushed the dark macaw down, causing both of them to fall over.

Seeing that normal soldiers were unable to take Blu down, they called in for some better soldiers. The dark macaws moved back and allowed a couple of martial-artist dark macaws to do their work for them. It was not difficult to tell them apart from ordinary dark macaws since they wore black overalls across their body with the exception of their talons and eyes while also wearing light grey body armor.

"Let's get him." the martial-artist lunged forward and began his attack towards Blu, who dodged each one with ease. The dark macaw, however, had managed to land a hit against Blu's face, but his victory was short lived when Blu head-butted him before kicking him backwards.

The second martial-artist leaped forward while performing some flips to demonstrate how dangerous he was, but his threats did not scare Blu. He began his attack, but he too was beaten with ease. Blu was a lot stronger than they thought.

As Blu raised a wing to continue defending himself, he felt something tight wrap around that same wing, preventing him from moving. He turned around to see a dark macaw had restrained him using a whip that was now tied around his wing. As he struggled to get free, his second wing was also restrained by a whip, leaving him defenseless. He struggled to free himself, but the whips were too tight.

Jewel charged forward in an attempt to help Blu, but she was restrained. One of the dark macaws threw a whip around her neck, choking her into submission. She groaned and tried to use her wings to pull the whip free, but the dark macaws were not easing up on her. They pulled her back that same dark macaw restrained her, still with his whip around her neck.

They had been defeated.

Blu continued to try and fight, but there was nothing he could do now. He gave up and fell to his knees, too weak to continue the battle. With both blue macaws in submission, the dark macaws stood aside and allowed their leader to walk through.

Lee grinned as he walked his way through the small squadron of dark macaws. "Tsk, tsk, oh Blu, this all could have been avoided if you listened to me. It appears to be clear that hurting those toucans was not proof enough of what I would do if you refused to listen to them. However, since I am in a good mood, I will give you one chance to redeem yourself. Where is the rebel base?"

Blu, however, remained silent in response, refusing to sell out the rebels for his own safety.

A dark macaw ran forward to announce some news. "General, we were unable to catch Arvo and his daughter. They got away."

Lee, however, did not appear to be aggravated by this news. He grinned as he moved his wing against Jewel's face and began to stroke the side of her face with a wingtip. She would have bit him if it weren't for the whip around her throat. "No matter. We have the blue macaws. If they talk, we will find the base. If not, then no doubt Arvo will attempt a rescue. Gentlemen, escort our "guests" back to base."

The dark macaws began to force their prisoners towards the direction of their base. Blu and Jewel had no idea how they were going to get out of this mess, they could only hope that they would find an opening to escape, but that seemed very unlikely now that Lee expected Arvo to try and save them. Lee was smart and no doubt had everything planned ahead.

* * *

After the dark macaws had ambushed the team of four, Arvo and Nina had been separated from their blue macaw friends but were unable to help them. Without anyone to fly to, they made their way into the jungle to hide from the dark macaws. They hid within a brush, peaking out a small hole as dark macaws patrolled the area in search of them.

Arvo beckoned for Nina to remain silent as he took one more peak out from the bush. It appeared that the dark macaws were beginning to give up on searching for them in this area.

"They can't be here!" one dark macaw yelled, giving up in searching this area. "There's no way they're here, we've searched everywhere."

"They must have slipped past us." a second dark macaw responded. "Come on, we'll go and search someone else."

Before they left to search elsewhere, another dark macaw flew into the area with his fellow allies to give them some important news. "Hey guys, good news! We caught the blue macaws!"

"You have?" the second dark macaw questioned. He began cheering seconds later, finally relieved that they done something right. "Woo-hoo! We got 'em!"

Arvo appeared surprised with Nina placing a wing around her beak to prevent herself from gasping. They thought that Blu and Jewel might have escaped, but this confirmed that they weren't. Lee had them captive and they felt responsible for not doing anything to prevent this, but then again, could they have done something to prevent their capture without getting themselves caught too?

They would never know, but that was not important right now. They had to get back to the base and plan something to save them before Lee caused them harm.

"What about the rebel leader Arvo?" the first dark macaw reminded. "Do we need to search for them still?"

"General Lee said if we can't find them, don't worry about it." the third dark macaw assured. "He has a plan. I got to say, I'm beginning to like him a lot more than Lord Nexus."

The dark macaws began to talk among themselves before flying away into the distance. Arvo decided to play it safe and remained inside the bush with his daughter, but they were now free to talk if they wished.

"What are we going to do?" Nina asked her father for advice on their current situation. "We have to save Blu and Jewel?"

"I know, Nina, but no doubt that Lee has set a trap for us." Arvo explained with a remorseful expression. "I want to save them, believe me I do, but how can we save them without being caught ourselves?"

As much as Nina did not want to admit it, Arvo had a valid point. She sighed sadly in response.

Arvo leaned forward and placed a comforting wing upon her shoulder. "Nina, I won't leave them to die, I promise. We just have to come up with a plan first. We can't just go running in there without a plan and if Lee is expecting us, then we need to think fast. We'll wait here for a few minutes and then we'll head back to base to think of something."

* * *

Blu and Jewel had been taken hostage and they were now being held prisoner within the dark macaw camp that was the current home to Lee until his plans were in motion. The two blue macaws were now locked in medieval stocks that were locked tightly against their wings and necks, preventing them from moving. Both blue macaws were positioned beside each other too. Unlike Nexus', who liked to keep his prisoners in cells, Lee had Blu and Jewel locked in stocks on the outside for two reasons: to keep an eye on them and to humiliate them.

Jewel groaned and tightened her wings into fists in an attempt to pull herself free, but the restraints were far too strong. "This is really uncomfortable. What kind of restraints are these?"

"They're called stocks." Blu explained while he too felt uncomfortable in this position. "They were created during the 16th century as a means of immobilizing the victim and placing them in public for humiliation and-"

"Blu, not now." Jewel requested. While she did find it cute when Blu did his nerdy facts, now was not the time to do this. Right now, she just wanted to focus on escaping. "I can't feel my wings or my neck and right now, I just want to get out of this mess."

"So do I, Jewel, but let's face facts: even if we can get out of this, do you think these dark macaws are just going to let us waltz out of here?" Blu stated the facts at hand. He did not enjoy pointing out flaws, but he would rather state facts than be put in danger.

Jewel sighed in response and gave up on trying to escape. Her talons were still free, but in the position they were in, that wouldn't matter right now. "Alright. Then what do you propose we do to escape?"

Blu had not exactly thought about that yet. He moved his eyeballs upwards to think for a moment, but he had no ideas, at least for them. "We can't get out of this on our own. The only way we can escape is if Arvo helps us."

"Who's to say that Arvo and Nina haven't been caught either?" Jewel inquired.

"I'm certain that they would be right beside us here if that was the case." Blu answered. If he could move his neck, then he would have looked around. "All we can do is wait...and hope."

Jewel sighed in response. It could be a long while until someone came to their rescue and even then it was going to be tricky. She hated these stocks and had only been locked in one for around fifteen minutes. They were worse than ropes.

All the blue macaws could do now was wait and hope that someone was coming to save them.

* * *

After making certain that they were not followed, Arvo and Nina had escaped from their pursuers and were able to make their way back to their base. Immediately, they called a meeting with a few of their rebels to devise a plan to save their blue macaw friends.

Rafael and Eva were also present too with their children sitting around them. Due to their injuries, Rafael now had a cast around his wing with a sling tied around his torso to keep his wing to his side while Eva was wearing a soft neck brace for her neck.

"Everyone. We have a problem." Arvo announced once he had everyone's attention. He stood at the front of the room with Nina beside him. "We were gathering forces when Lee and his people ambushed us. Nina and I were fortunate to escape, but we were separated from Blu and Jewel and after overhearing their conversation, we have discovered they have been captured and are currently being held Lee's base. We must find a way to save them before Lee finishes gathering an army. Unfortunately, I have no ideas so far and I am willing to accept ideas."

The dark macaw rebels present turned towards one another for advice, but none of them had any ideas. They were a small force and could not afford to risk losing more of their people during this rescue attempt.

A dark macaw raised his wing in the air for permission to speak. "Is it not possible for one of us to pose as one of Lee's people and quietly sneak Blu and Jewel out?"

"That is a good plan, but when it comes to the exit strategy, that will be quite difficult." Arvo half-agreed with the plan. "No doubt that Arvo is keeping his prisoners in public as he always does. If he even caught one of you going nearby, then no doubt he will notice. We must think of a way to divert their attention away from our friends."

"I have an idea." a new voice spoke up.

The dark macaws turned around at the source of the new voice. A new figure walked into the room and while at first they thought he was a dark macaw, he was not. He was in fact a black hawk.

"Rico." Rafael greeted.

Eva tried to turn her neck, but then she remembered her injury that caused her to place her wing against the back of her neck.

Arvo noticed the new face and allowed him to speak his plan, but not before asking who this new face is. He turned towards Rafael as he had just spoken to the new bird's name. "You know him?"

"That's right. Well, sort of." Rafael responded, confusing everyone present. "His name is Rico; he's a long-time friend of us, except that he's not our Rico. More than a year ago, Nexus had brought Rico back from the dead after he was killed in battle and used him as a puppet, but Rico eventually saw the errors and gave his life to save us all. The true Rico we knew is dead, that one standing over there...Is a clone."

Arvo appeared somewhat interested in this news. He knew his brother was a master of magic, but he did not think he was capable of bring others back from the dead or creating clones for that matter. "I see. Well Rico, if you're a friend of Blu and Jewel, then you're a friend of mine. I have a question if I may: how did you find your way here?"

"I went away to do some thinking for a while and then I arrived back at Blu and Jewel's, but they weren't there, only Nico and Pedro. They told me about the situation and thought it was best if I help your cause." Rico explained while taking in a couple of breaths.

Arvo appeared satisfied with this answer as did Nina. "Very well. May we hear this plan of yours?"

"Certainly. One second though." Rico requested and began to drink out from a whiskey bottle he had been carrying around with him for a while now. He threw his drink away once he finished the bottle and continued. "Refreshing. Now we stick to first plan, but when it comes to the distraction, I'll handle that. I'll take a small group of dark macaws and attack from the west, making it look like we're attacking. While they have our attention focused on us, someone can slip inside, free Blu and Jewel and make it back here in one piece. Simple."

Everyone seemed satisfied with this plan and began to mutter words to one another in agreement. Of course that choice whenever or not they followed through with this plan was up to Arvo.

Arvo had to admit that this was not the safest plan they had, but it was their best shot even if it was a risky one. "It sounds like a plan. We should go at night where there will be fewer guards on patrol. Every get yourselves ready. We are going to save Blu and Jewel."

* * *

 **That concludes chapter 32, ladies and gentlemen. Blu and Jewel have been captured and the clone of Rico has returned to help them escape. Will their escape plan be successful or will Lee have a few surprises for them. Stay tuned to find out.**


	33. Chapter 33: revelations

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 33: revelations**

 **Hello ladies and gentlemen, we are back with chapter 33. I don't have much to say in this author's note, so long-story short, enjoy the chapter everyone.**

* * *

Night time arrived within all across Rio de Janeiro, sending the darkness all across both the city and the jungle to allow their residents to sleep for the night. Deep within the jungle, however, some weren't quite willing to sleep just yet as they had work to do.

After assembling a plan to save the blue macaws, Arvo and Rico led a small strike team of four dark macaws towards Lee's base during very early morning. While Rico and the dark macaws would keep their enemies occupied, Arvo would sneak in silently and save Blu and Jewel. It was a risky plan, but what other choice did they have now?

The team of six landed on a tree and began to survey the area. Despite fewer guards on patrol, there will still archers positioned on the trees and guards patrolling the outside area of the base. Getting in there was not going to be an easy task, but with Rico's distraction, Arvo may be able to slip inside unnoticed.

As they waited, Arvo was in deep through about the past. He was beginning to wonder where it all went wrong with their people and that was his brother's fault. If it weren't for Nexus, things could have turned out differently. The Angelus, Ivan, the real Rico, Kalûr...All could have lived had it not been for his brother. He dazed out from his thoughts and got back to the situation at hand.

"This is it, everyone." Arvo announced silently. He reminded his team one last time of their plan. "Remember, we are here to save Blu and Jewel, not to fight the enemy. Keep them occupied for as long as possible. Sunrise will be up within an hour, so we have to move fast. I should be in and out within five minutes. If I'm not at the rendezvous point, leave without me. Do not argue, just do it. Rico will be in charge while you're under his command. Everyone understood?"

The dark macaws merely nodded in response.

"Good." Arvo said and wished them good luck one more time. "I will wait for your signal. As soon as the patrols are gone, I will move in swiftly."

With their plan declared, Rico and the small team of dark macaws flew around the area to get to the opposite end of the base just like the agreed. Arvo remained where he was positioned for now, waiting patiently for the right moment to strike.

* * *

Rico escorted the team of four around the side of the base where they could see the dark macaw patrols. This is it; there was no going back once they did this. It would take everything they had to get out of this alive.

"Everyone ready?" Rico inquired before sipping down the last battle of whiskey he brought with him. With the right amount of alcohol consumed, Rico somehow turned into an excellent leader.

"We're ready." one of the dark macaw rebels nodded.

Rico placed up his wing and began to count down his wingtips from three to zero. "Ready...Now! Drop the beat!"

With that, Rico and the dark macaws leaped out from their hiding positions, but instead of attacking the dark macaws to lead them away, they did something that none of the dark macaws within the camp expected. They certainly caught the dark macaw's attention because they were moving in towards them seconds later.

"Hey intruders!" a dark macaw shouted and escorted some forces to attack the rebels.

However, before they could commence their attack, they found themselves halting in midair when the rebels were not attacking, but...Rapping?

A dark macaw placed his wings against his beak and began beat-boxing. Rico stepped forward and began to rap a song he had come up with for this occasion.

 _Yo, eh, what, check it...Yo, yo, here we go._

 _What the deal, we just coming here to eat that meal_  
 _This dude right here got kicked in the gut, yoyo I'm out of...Luck_  
 _Oh no, the car is outside, Imma do my thing and wait for my own ride_

 _See this dude? He be chilling though_  
 _Just chilling there, waiting for his food though_  
 _Imma put all of you on Santa's naughty list._  
 _Oh wait, it does not even exist_

While he was rapping, the other dark macaws began to use their skills to begin dancing while performing flips, hiding themselves as rebels while they pretended to be mere performers.

 _I'm just lying to you guys_  
 _Everybody's get gifts_  
 _Yo I bet you thinking what up with this?_  
 _You want a watch on the wrist?_

 _I got you player, so eh, check this out_  
 _Because this is what I'm about_  
 _Here's in the cut, yeah I'm in the house_  
 _Oh, this dude's in the cut, he got a very big gut_

"Should be attack them?" a dark macaw asked another, confused as to what was happening here exactly.

"I don't know. I kinda like it." the second dark macaw admitted. Rather than attack, all of the dark macaws merely stood there in confusion.

* * *

Within the camp, Lee was sleeping quietly within his tent, gaining what little rest he could. As the general, it was his duty to keep everything in order, but that did not mean he was entitled to some rest. However, his sleep was ruined when one of the dark macaw captains walked inside.

"General?" the dark macaw called out.

Lee's eyes shot open and he leaned out from his nest. If it were not for his sleeping state, he would have yelled at the guard for disturbing him. "What is it?"

"Uh, there are some dark macaw rebels by the base. But one of them is rapping and...We're confused as to what to do." the dark macaw explained with a slight shrug.

Lee sighed in response as he sometimes wondered why he even bothered putting up with some of his captains. Scratch that, why had he promoted them to captains? He would think about that later, right now he had to investigate what was happening. "Very well, show me."

As Lee exited his tent, he turned to his right where he could see the captive blue macaws sleeping in their restraints. Making certain that they were unable to escape while he was gone, he made haste to investigate this so-called attack.

Blu and Jewel were now left unguarded. Blu was the first to wake him, trying to lean his head upwards until he realized that he was still locked in stocks. He groaned at first, but then he noticed that no-one was no longer watching the. He attempted to turn his head and call out to his loved one. "Jewel? Jewel, wake up."

"Huh?" Jewel opened her eyes with a groan. She blinked her eyes a few times to brush away the dizziness from her eyes. "What is it?"

"The guards are gone. I think we can try and take this chance to escape!" Blu whispered and immediately made haste to try and forcefully free himself from the stocks. He pulled with all of his might, desperate to escape, but regardless of how much he tried, he could not escape from the stocks and neither could Jewel.

"I won't bother wasting your time. They were designed to hold much stronger birds."

Blu and Jewel tried to turn their heads to the familiar face. Their hopes of escaping rose when a familiar friend emerged from the bushes. "Arvo!" they greeted simultaneously.

Arvo looked around him to make certain that no-one was present before he took out his sword and cut through the padlocks on their stocks, freeing them from their restraints. "Are you both alright?" he asked while placing his sword back into his holster.

The two blue macaws leaned out from the stocks and began to rub the back of their necks. Being locked in those restraints gave them a neck ache and they felt the urge to get a massage as soon as possible.

"We're fine, Arvo. Thanks for coming back for us." Blu expressed his gratitude and finished rubbing his neck once he finished nursing it.

"We're friends and it is what we do." Arvo reminded and nodded. "Come now. Rico and my people won't be able to distract Lee and his forces for very long."

Jewel raised an eyebrow at that last comment. "Did you say Rico?"

"Yes." Arvo confirmed as he began to lead them back towards the direction he had snuck through to get here. "The clone of Rico arrived and is currently distracting the dark macaws long enough for us to escape. I promise he will be alright, but first we need to get back to the rendezvous point. We'll meet him there."

* * *

 _He likes to eat sandwiches_  
 _He's got so bad he needs bandages_  
 _Oh, switch it up now_  
 _Because Rico is about to switch beat styles_

 _You got to eat that food, eat the food, eat the food, and eat the food, eh!_

With the end of his beat, the dark macaws began to clap for a moment with Rico taking a couple of bows. He had certainly kept them distracted long enough than he had predicated. With his rap over, he and the small team quickly began to fly away into the darkness. That's when the dark macaws remembered that they were rebels and sent some of their people to chase after them into the darkness.

Lee had been watching since he had been called here to investigate. While he would have usually just sent his people to get them, this time he ordered them to remain where they are while he was studying Rico.

"Where have I seen that bird before?" Lee asked himself while rubbing his wingtip against his chin. The hawk looked similar, but he could not quite place a wingtip on where he had met him before. That was until a moment later when he grinned and half-closed his eyes. "Well, well, I do not believe it. Now I remember where I have seen that hawk before. Oh, this is excellent. This is perfect. This is the opportunity I've been waiting for."

* * *

It was a miracle that Blu, Jewel and Arvo were able to exit Lee's base without getting seen at least once. It was quite clear that Rico's distraction had worked, along with Blu and Arvo being masters of stealth. Now that they were out of danger, they arrived at the rendezvous point around half way up a tree. They perched upon the large branches and rested for a moment while they waited for Rico.

Jewel sighed in relief and felt like passing out, let alone rest for a while. She sat down and began to rub her wing against her eyes. "Did we really just make out of there?"

"I believe we did." Arvo answered with a small smile. "I would rather we celebrate back at the base where we our safe from harm. No doubt that Lee may realize what we were up to, but by the time he figures out what has happened, we will be long gone. Rico shouldn't be too long."

The three birds began to wait a little while for Rico to return, but according to Arvo, he was taking a lot longer than expected. He should have been back at least ten minutes ago, but there was no sign of him anywhere and he had to hurry because the sun was beginning to rise in the distance.

When their worries were about to get the best of them, they were relieved to see Rico and all of his troops arrived unharmed. They joined the trio on the same tree and by the looks across their faces, they were exhausted.

"Sorry we're late." Rico apologized while catching his breath still. "We had to fly around for a while until we lost Lee's guys. They sure don't give up easy."

At that moment, Jewel lunged forward and embraced Rico in a hug, relieved to see him again. He may claim to be a clone, but to Jewel, she was still the Rico she grew up with and always would be. Rico smiled slightly and returned the hug, patting Jewel's back a couple of times while doing so. They broke free from their hug a moment, staring into each another's eyes with smiles.

Blu smiled too and shared a friendly hug of his own with Rico. "It's good to see you're back, Rico."

"You can't keep this hawk away forever." Rico responded and hugged Blu with one wing.

Arvo was happy to see the friends reunited. At that moment, he turned towards the sunrise yet again when he noticed it was beginning to rise more and no doubt they would be seen easily in the light. "I hate to spoil the moment, but I suggest we should get going now. The sun's almost here."

Now reunited, the small team proceeded to fly away and set course directly towards their base, desperate to escape before they spotted. Their flight was short lived when the familiar face of Lee with a group of his people had appeared out of nowhere, flying in front of them and blocking their way to escape.

"Going somewhere?" Lee questioned with a grin.

Everyone proceeded to make their way down towards the ground as both teams were expecting to battle any second now. It was fortunate that Lee did not bring all of his people with him; otherwise they would have gone back to square one with more prisoners this time.

"Get out of our way, Lee." Arvo warned as he raised his bow with an arrow positioned, preparing to fire.

Lee chuckled in response, unfazed despite knowing that Arvo could shoot him any moment now. "I do not think so, Arvo. I am growing tired of you meddling with my plans." he shifted his attention towards Blu and Jewel. "Now, as for you two, I believe I have a friend of yours who is eager to see you."

Blu and Jewel appeared confused for a moment, but their expressions changed when Lee whistled and two dark macaws emerged from the trees, holding with them a familiar military macaw as a prisoner.

"Lenny!" Blu gasped.

The dark macaws brought the bound Lenny in front of Arvo before kicking their talons against his own, forcing him down onto his knees. He had been badly beaten as they could see from the bruises and cuts across his body.

"Blu...Get out of here." Lenny told him while he was currently in a weakened state from the beatings he had received.

Lee grinned as he moved both of his wings against Lenny's neck. He looked up towards Blu and Jewel to remind them one last time what he was capable of if they continued to meddle in his plans. "I gave both of you the chance to walk away, but oh no, you just had to play the hero, didn't you? I was merciful to your toucan friends, but now I am finished with being nice. Allow me to show you what the price of being a hero will cost."

In what felt like the blink of an eye, Lee gripped Lenny's neck and in a split second, he twisted Lenny's neck to the side as much as he could, breaking Lenny's neck and killing him instantly.

"NO!" Blu screamed in both anger and sadness while the others watched in shock and sadness. He angrily yelled out and charged towards the dark macaw without thinking.

Since his attention was focused only on Lenny, a single dark macaw brute stepped forward and whacked Blu with great force, knocking him quite a distance back. Fortunately, he was caught by Jewel and Arvo who attempted to stand him up, but the impact of the force had caused him head dizziness.

Lee laughed coldly in response and shoved Lenny's lifeless corpse down upon the ground. He pointed his wing towards his enemies. "Let this be a lesson to what I will do to each and every one of you if you meddle in my plans one final time."

Arvo was angry deep within himself, but he kept a cool head to avoid losing control of himself. "You will pay for your actions, Lee. Soon your rule will be at an end and order will be restored back to our home."

"I find that unlikely to happen. You think you can fool me, Arvo? I knew you were trying to distract us, I know your every step before you even make it. You may try and continue your pathetic cause against me, but soon you and your band of rebels will be dead." Lee disagreed while rubbing two of his wingtips together. At that moment, his eyes widened for a second but then his expression changed into a grin and he diverted his eyes towards Rico. "And as for you. Oh heheha, I never expected to see you again in a lifetime."

Rico raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Hate to spoil the mood, buddy, but I'm a clone of the original Rico who happens to be dead. I share his memories and his appearance, but I am not the true Rico."

That's when Lee realized that Rico had no idea what he was speaking about. He chuckled a second time. "What? Oh this is excellent. You don't remember. Oh, this day could not get any more better."

Rico appeared be further confused and was beginning to lose his patience. "What are you talking about?"

While they were speaking, Blu had snapped out of his dizziness state but he had heard every word that had been exchanged by the two birds. The rest of them also appeared confused with the exception of Arvo, who looked somewhat worried. It was like he was hoping for Lee to silence his words, but no amount of praying was going to make that come true.

"You really don't remember, do you, Rico?" Lee questioned a second time with a grin and pressed both of his wings together. "Or should I say... Kalûr?"

* * *

 **Dun, dun, dun! Cliffhanger. Well, well, this chapter was certainly surprising. The blue macaws are freed, Lenny has been murdered in cold blood by Lee, and Rico is no other than Kalûr; the mysterious apprentice of Nexus who was apparently betrayed by Lee and destroyed a long time ago. Well, it seems this is going to bring some trouble for our feathered friends. Stay tuned to see what happens next in chapter 34.**


	34. Chapter 34: the truth revealed

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 34: the truth revealed**

 **Hey everyone, Rico here. Before we begin the chapter, I think I should explain the whole Rico is Kalûr? twist. The story: the real Rico was Kalûr, but he is now gone. The Rico we see in this story is a clone, but nevertheless, he is still Kalûr as the clone of Rico shares the same traits as the real Rico. I hope that cleared everything up, if not, PM me and I'll try to explain it as best as I can. Meanwhile, enjoy chapter 34, ladies and gentlemen.**

* * *

Everyone's faces dropped into shock at Lee's last statement. While their attention was turned towards Lee, they slowly drifted towards Rico, who was not Rico after all. He was a Kalûr, the mysterious apprentice of Nexus who had apparently been killed by Lee a long time ago.

At that moment, memories of Kalûr shot through Rico's mind, causing him to clutch his wings against his head. He remembered; he could see the memories of his former self racing through his mind that appeared before him. Despite his disbelief, there was no denying it. Rico was Kalûr and no amount of denial could change that.

"Rico...Is Kalûr?" Blu questioned with his eyes widened in shock.

Jewel was the most surprised out of them all. Her best friend who she had grown up with turned out to be a member of one of her most hated enemies. She denied it more than Rico did. "No...No, that's not possible! How! You're lying!"

"You can deny what you once were, Kalûr, but you and I know different." Lee replied while grinning widely. The truth he had revealed was going to without a doubt going to cause trouble for the group as they would no doubt discuss them in private.

"How...How is this possible?" Rico questioned as he rubbed his wing against the top of his head. As the memories continued to open within his mind, he could see the day he had apparently died, but had no memory of how he survived.

Lee gestured his wing towards Arvo who looked somewhat worried. "Why don't you ask Arvo? He should know."

Rico turned towards Arvo in response and crossed his wings together. "Arvo, what is he talking about? Tell me this isn't true?"

Arvo sighed in response and lowered his head. He was hoping that this day would never come within his lifetime, but there was nothing he could say to evade the question. He looked up and began to explain the situation. "It is true, Rico. When Lee had killed you that day, I had my people search the dark woods for your body. We found you, barely alive and unconscious. We took you into care, but we knew that if we saved you, you would not hesitate to kill us. We healed your broken body and then we used hat little powers we had to wipe your memory and gave you a new identity. You were aged down to your adolescent years and we transported you to Rio where you were taken in by the blue macaw clan."

This certainly explained a lot of things, but there were still a couple of questions that needed to be explained.

"But what about my wife? My family?" Rico questioned while he was still trying to take all of this in at once. Being told he was once the apprentice of the lord of darkness was not exactly easy to accept.

"Your family is made up, but that wife of yours is true. However, she only known you as your false identity, not your trueone." Lee answered before Arvo could. "As part of your new identity, they gave false information into your mind in hopes of keeping your true identity away. You have no family, your loved one is gone. You were once a powerful member of Nexus' army, but then they turned you into a teenaged, drunken bird with a false identification and were taken in by blue macaws."

Rico could not believe what he was hearing. It was bad enough to be a clone of the original Rico, but to find out that he is a dark macaw and secretly a former apprentice of Nexus shocked him greatly. As he took the moment to try and process all this information, he growled and pointed a judging wing towards Arvo. "You lied to me! You knew who I was the entire time!"

"What choice did I have, Rico?" Arvo replied as a means to justify his actions. "You were a dangerous enemy. We gave you a fresh start when we could have easily left you for dead!"

"I'd rather you left me to die!" Rico responded angrily, throwing his wing down in hatred. He turned around and began to march away.

Jewel attempted to go after Rico, grabbing onto his wing to stop him. "Rico, wait!"

"Get off me!" Rico spat and pulled out of her grip. He turned around and judged everyone present for this secret that had been held for so long. "All of you are liars, traitors! Well forget all of you! I'm better off on my own!"

Too angry to even look at those he once called his friends, he turned around and began to fly away into the distance. A couple of dark macaws were about to follow, but Lee beckoned for them to remain where they are. He got what he wanted and that was the most important part. This was certainly going to break a hold of the trust Arvo shared with his new allies.

Lee chuckled with his wings crossed as he stepped over Lenny's lifeless corpse. "I admit that I was surprised that Kalûr survived, but now I see this as a sign of my victory. You see Arvo; this is what your compassionate ways got you: losing your allies. Soon this war will be over and I will be in charge of our people. First I am going to kill you, then Kalûr, and then the blue macaws."

Arvo, however, disagreed, but despite what he felt, he turned towards Blu and Jewel who looked as if they had lost trust in him for not telling him this. They would have to talk about this when they got back to safety, but now was not the time. Instead, he once again dropped a smoke pellet and allowed them for cover for them to escape.

Like before, Lee allowed them to escape. He laughed out loud as he watched his enemies fly into the distance. He called out to them, taunting them as they flew away. "Run away! Go ahead and run away! You only delay the inevitable!"

* * *

It took some time before they got back to the rebel base, but fortunately for them, they were not pursed by any of the dark macaws. It became quite clear that Lee had intended for all this to happen. He wanted them to argue among themselves, he wanted them to run. It was all a part of his plan to destroy this jungle.

By the time they arrived back at the base, the sun had now risen to its fullest and now the light brightened the entire jungle. Once they had arrived back at the base, the dark macaws entered their base to inform the others of their successful while Blu and Jewel needed to talk with Arvo about this whole Rico- Kalûr situation.

Arvo calmly placed his wings out and attempted to explain things in a peaceful matter. He could tell by their expressions that they were not happy and demanded answers. "Look. I know you are both upset and you have every right to be-"

"You knew that Rico was Kalûr!" Blu spat out angrily.

"He only came to me yesterday!" Arvo said to justify his actions. "What did you expect me to do? Just come out and say it when we first met?!"

"But you knew that we were friends with Rico!" Jewel shouted, pointing her wingtip towards him in accusation. "What, did you plan to just keep this from us!?"

"Of course not!" Arvo responded and for once, he lost his usually calm tone and was beginning to lose his temper. He felt crowded with all of these accusations from his new friends, or were new friends considering they may not trust him anymore. "I was going to tell you once we defeated Lee. I didn't want to tell you now because this is the exact confrontation I wanted to avoid!"

"Oh sure." Jewel sarcastically responded. "I knew it was a mistake to trust a dark macaw! All of you are liars and know nothing but evil!"

Arvo felt hurt by her words. What she said was almost true. Since the beginning of time, the dark macaws were evil and that's all other species knew them as. Arvo had been trying to change that for a long time.

Finally losing his cool, Arvo angrily screamed out. "How dare you!? If I was evil, would I be helping you!? NO! I am not evil; I am not a bad person. I have been trying to good for my people for a long time and what I have I achieved? Nothing! I changed Kalûr's-I mean Rico's identity for the safety of us all! Try and look at this from my point of view! Had I healed him and let him lose, he simply would have come back and kill us! I could have just killed him, yes, but what I did was merciful! I gave him a second chance when others would have just killed him! I allowed Rico redemption when he didn't deserve it! SO DON'T TELL ME ALL OF MY KIND ARE EVIL!"

Before anyone could respond, Nina had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, yelling to silent the three birds. It was unclear how long she had been standing there or how much she heard, but it was quite clear that she heard enough. Now that she was joined in on the argument, this was not going to end well.

"Everyone shut up!" Nina shouted with his wings thrown in the air. When all was silent, she continued to explain things. "Blu, Jewel, father, can't you see that this is all part of Lee's plan? This is what he wants! He wants us to fight among ourselves like this, he wants us to pull apart." she closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled a deep breath to calm herself down. When her anger dialed down, she spoke in a calmer matter. "Look, this is a bad situation we're currently in, but can we please talk about this AFTER the war is over? We need to stay focused on the battle ahead; otherwise Lee is going to take our fighting among ourselves as an advantage to get even more ahead of us. Please."

Blu and Jewel turned towards each other to hear the other's opinion. As much as they both felt that working with Arvo was beginning to feel like a mistake, they had to put asides their personal feelings now for the sake of their home. They had a war to in and still had one more force to gather before their army would be complete.

"We'll put aside our argument for now." Blu told Arvo who nodded in agreement.

"Very well." Arvo agreed and turned towards Nina, giving her a like as if he were giving her a look to say thank you. "Now we should get back to gathering the rest of our forces."

The four birds prepared to get inside the base to continue their plan of action. However, before they could get inside, they were stopped when one of the dark macaw rebels arrived, flying towards them at incredible speeds as if he had urgent news to tell them. He landed in front of them, almost tripping himself up in the process.

"Arvo." the dark macaw gasped and quickly caught his breath back. "You have to come quick!"

"What is it?" Arvo inquired while deep within, he was expecting trouble.

The dark macaw turned towards Blu and Jewel and gave them an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. It's your home."

Without saying anything, Blu and Jewel immediately departed into the air, flying as fast as their wings could carry them. They did not take a second to ask what had happened due to worst thoughts racing around their mind. Arvo and Nina appeared surprised also, but nevertheless, they followed Blu and Jewel back towards their home.

The blue macaws had their worst fears running around their mind like crazy as they attempted to pick up the pace to get there quicker. What could have happened to their home? Were the kids and Nico and Pedro okay? The questions that continued to appear in their minds would soon be answered when they arrived home.

* * *

This had to be the fastest Blu and Jewel had ever been able to get back home, but when they arrived, their eyes widened in horror with what they witnessed next. Their tree was engulfed in flames, burning down every last wood and leaf. The blue macaws were horrified by the sight of their home in flames, but right now, there were more important things on their mind.

"Kids!" Jewel screamed and immediately departed towards the underground hideout hatch, ignoring the danger of the flames. Blu followed her almost a second later.

As they reached the underground hideout, one of the large branches upon their tree had broken down and plummeted directly towards them. Blu noticed it first and grabbed Jewel, pulling her out of the way just in time when the branch would have crushed them had they not moved out of the way. But now that same branch had blocked the hideout, preventing them from getting inside and doubt they would be buried alive while the fire continued to spread inside of the hideout. That hatch was the only wah in and out.

"NO!" Jewel screamed as she reached out her wing with tears in her eyes. She tried to move forward, but Blu prevented her from moving by holding one wing around her.

"No. No! KIDS!" Blu shouted at the top of his lungs. He could only watch as more branches collapsed upon the hideout, trapping their children and friends. He began to shred tears of his own. "No!"

There was nothing they could do to get into the hideout without hurting themselves. The branches blocked their way and even if they could move them, the fires prevented that. They could only watch as their home continued to burn down with both blue macaws watching in sadness. Their children and their friends were gone, along with their home.

This was the exact cruelty Lee had warned them about, the exact thing he would do to them if they did not get out of his way. Whenever or not he knew about the hideout, what mattered was that he had hurt them deeply as anticipated, leaving both blue macaws broken and weak.

"Blu! Jewel!"

Blu and Jewel leaned their heads up at the sound of the voice. At first, they mistook it for Arvo's voice, but when they turned around, their expressions changed into relief. The voice they heard was not the dark macaws, but a familiar canary.

Standing next to Arvo and Nina were their children and friends safe and sound. Rey, Azul, Crystal, Jessica, Nico and Pedro were standing there, alive and well. It appeared that they escaped as the fire had begun or during. That was not important; the important thing was is that they were alive and well.

Without saying a word, Blu and Jewel raced forward towards their children and the reunited family embraced together in one hug. Jewel continued crying, but now she was crying with tears of relief and not sadness.

"Oh my babies! You're okay. You're okay." Jewel cried and held her four children close, refusing to ever leave them alone again.

"We thought...We thought you were gone." Blu admitted quietly and embraced both his children and his mate. He held them close while relieved and grateful that they were okay.

The small group of birds watched as Blu and Jewel's home began to burn down, dropping wooden debris all across the area. Their home was gone; they had nowhere else to go now.

"Our home." Jewel whimpered. She may have her children safe, but her home meant a lot to her too. She had lived there with Blu and the kids for as long as she can remember. "It's gone."

Blu was about to open his beak to reply, but when he looked into the sky, he could see that more black smoke filling the air and it was not definitely a part of the fire in front of them. He slowly released his family and flew up to a nearby tree to investigate.

To even more of his horror, their home was not the only one in flames. In the distance, more trees had been set in flames and families were flying for their lives. While only a few trees had been set in flames and now the entire jungle fortunately, enough was enough. Lee needed to be stopped now. He injured Rafael and Eva, kidnapped himself and Jewel, killed Lenny and now he destroyed their home.

Blu wiped the last of his tears from his eyes and changed his expression from a relieved one into a determined one. He was tired of these birds ruining his life with his family and bringing danger each time. He was going to finish this now. "It ends here."

* * *

 **That concludes chapter 34, ladies and gentlemen. Rico has left and the blue macaws have lost their home. It is now time to gather their forces and stop Lee once and for all. (P.S, the story cover for Rise of the Zealots is based off one of the scenes here at the end). Chapter 35 coming soon.**


	35. Chapter 35: the battle of Rio

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 35: the battle of Rio**

 **Hello ladies and gentlemen. We are back with the next chapter and as you can see by the title, the time has come for battle. I thank you all for staying with my story so far and to express my appreciation, I made this chapter a few hundred words longer than it was before. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

After escaping from Lee and saving their children and friends, Blu and Jewel now travelled to the meeting point. It was time to bring the fight directly towards Lee and his army and end this once and for all. News of Lenny's death had hit the military macaws fast and while they were saddened by the death of their leader-their friend, they immediately agreed to help Blu in his cause. Orders or not, this was personal for them.

The sun was beginning to set all across of Rio de Janeiro as night would soon follow. Outside of the dark macaw rebel base were three different clans working together as one army: the small group of dark macaw rebels led by Arvo, the Red Dragon clan ninjas led by Yoshi, the scarlet macaws led by Felipe, and the military macaws who were no longer led by anyone. General Breno was not in Rio at the moment and was busy elsewhere. Some of the locals within the jungle had joined too, willing to help defend their home.

With all of their forces combined, they made excellent numbers, but there was still a chance that the dark macaws may outnumber them still, but there was no going back now. They had to defend their home, no matter the odds.

As the forces gathered and went silent, they looked up towards their temporary leaders. Blu was standing above them upon a tree with Jewel beside him while Arvo and Nina were on the other side. Amongst the crowd were their friends and the other leaders standing in the front: Nico, Pedro, Yoshi and Felipe.

Blu was never the best when it came to speeches, but he thought it was best that he give the people some words of encouragement. When all eyes were upon him, he cleared his throat and began his speech with his wings spread out. "Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for coming this day, but I must warn that what we are about to do is dangerous, but we have to remember that our family and friends are counting on us to win this. Lee and his army want to take away everything we have and we have to give it all we've got to stop them. Keep your sights focused around you for that is what we're fighting for. We all may be strangers, but we have to watch each other's backs to win this battle. They've hurt my friends and destroyed my home, enough is enough. Now, let's show Lee and his people the consequence for messing with our home!"

The army cheered in response, waving their wings in the air while doing so.

Arvo smiled slightly as he clapped for Blu, praising him on a job well done. "Excellent speech, Blu. I was never one good for words, but I think you handle that perfectly."

"I just spoke what I felt was in my heart." Blu explained that earned him a peck on the cheek from Jewel. He smiled slightly before continuing. "I think we should get going soon. We have a war to win."

"I hope you weren't planning on starting without me."

Blu looked up and he smiled widely when his eyes met a familiar face who he did not expect to see for a while. "Rico!"

"That's my name." Rico responded with a grin and joined the leaders of the army. He opened his wings when Jewel ran forward for a hug to which he returned when they were close. He ended their embrace seconds later before diverting his attention towards Arvo.

"Rico...Are you here to help us?" Arvo inquired, choosing his words carefully. They did not exactly leave on good terms last time.

"That's right." Rico confirmed with a nod. He walked closer to the dark macaw and offered him a talon shake. "Arvo, I've been doing some thinking since I found out I was Kalûr and you were right. You gave me a second chance when others would have just killed me. I've began to see the memories of my past life, but I am not the same anymore. I am not Kalûr; I am not a clone. I am Ricardo the black hawk. I am willing to help you in your cause against Lee. If you will accept my help. What do you say?"

Arvo was surprised to see his former enemy offering his services, but nevertheless, he could not be happier. He smiled and accepted Rico's talon shake. "I'd be honored to have you in our cause, Rico."

From this point forward, Blu knew that Kalûr was no more. The Rico standing before him may be a clone, but to him, he would always be a friend. It was hard to believe that he would come back so soon after discovering this tragic news, but that was in the past. Now it was time to focus on the future and that future would be based on what happened today.

"Now let's get going." Arvo spoke up. "Let us end this once and for all."

* * *

At the opposite side of the jungle, the dark macaw army was now finally assembled. Every last soldier had arrived and now they were ready to cause destruction, following in the footsteps of their former leader. Their army had slightly more numbers then Blu's army, giving them the advantage in numbers.

Now that everyone was here, it was time to moving soon. They cheered as their leader flew up to a nearby tree to give them a speech of his own.

Lee spread out his wings his people began to quiet down their cheering. "My fellow brothers and sisters! Today is the day we fulfill Lord Nexus' dream of destroying this pathetic wasteland. Not only do we get to destroy this wasteland, but we can destroy the traitor Arvo and his band of rebels and more importantly, the blue macaws responsible for our king's death! Grab your weapons, arm yourselves, do not show fear and crush your enemies without hesitation!"

The crowd of dark macaws erupted with cheer in response, raising their weapons in the air. No doubt they were in support of this plan and were willing to do what needed to be done in order to fulfil their former king's dream.

Lee grinned in response. It was time to move out and now he had no hesitation with hurting his enemies after he allowed them to escape before. "Now follow me to victory!"

* * *

In what the locals referred to as "The heart of the jungle" was the army of the heroes. Reports from their spies indicated that this is where Lee and his army intended to go to first to begin their destruction. Now all they had to do was wait for Lee to arrive and no doubt he was going to be here very soon.

Blu stood at the front of the army as they waited patiently for the dark macaws to arrive. Most of their army was gathered behind him while some were perched in the trees, waiting to attack. As they waited for a few more moments, in the distance they could see dark figures heading towards them. They were here and the time to attack was very soon.

As the dark macaws emerged from the jungle and headed towards them, the army of heroes were beginning to feel a little nervous when they witnessed how well organized the dark macaws were, but they remained confident and willing.

The dark macaws continued to come closer until they stopped at the opposite side of the area. From the army of the dark macaws, Lee emerged from the crowd. For a brief moment, it looked as if Lee was surprised to see another army trying to stop him, but nevertheless, he grinned and thought this was going to be a lot more fun than he hoped. He could do with a good challenge.

Lee chuckled and beckoned for his army to remain where they were. He began to march towards Blu and his army until he stopped around halfway. He crossed his wings together and began to mock his enemies. "I admire your bravery, but you are foolish to think you and your friends can stop me. Not to mention that you're leading this army alone."

As he finished speaking, Blu's friends began to appear from the crowd of their army to make speeches of their own.

Jewel emerged from the crowd, standing beside Blu on his left. "He's not alone."

Nico and Pedro appeared from the crowd next, standing proudly against the dark macaws. They were no longer allowing their fear to control.

Nico spoke first. "We're with Blu-"

"Until the end!" Pedro finished with a confident expression. He began to mimic boxing noises while moving his wings like fists.

Arvo appeared from the crowd too, standing to Blu's right. "We stand with him."

Nina appeared next from the crowd, standing beside Arvo, the closest thing she had to a father. "And with him, stand all of us."

Rico was the final bird to appear from the crowd to make a short speech. He stood beside Jewel with a determined yet charming expression. "And now I walk in, saying something appropriately heroic."

Yoshi and Felipe walked out from the crowd next, but neither one of them had nothing to say.

Lee only chuckled in response, finding their attempts to stand up against him amusing. "Foolish birds. How do you all expect to defeat me and my army? With words?"

"No." Blu shook his head. He turned towards his friends and family who each nodded towards him. He turned back towards Lee. "We fight against you...Together."

Lee shook his head in disagreement, unfazed by their threats. He raised his wing and waved it forward, giving the signal for his army to begin their attacks. "Attack!"

With the order, the dark macaws roared with anger and charged directly towards the heroes. Blu and his own army charged forward to, crying out in determination. Both armies charged towards the other until they were engaged in combat. The war had begun and both armies began to attack the other, fighting for their victory.

In the center of the battle, Blu and his friends fought for their lives and the survival of their home, fighting together as one.

Blu dodged a dark macaw's attack before countering him and delivering a few attacks on his own, striking the dark macaw rapidly. He stopped and gripped the dark macaw's wing, throwing him around and knocking him into a couple of his own men. He began to use his training against more dark macaws.

Jewel used her regularly fighting skills to fight off the dark macaws. When one of them attempted to strike her, she caught his wing within her beak and began to bite as hard as she could. As the dark macaw cried out in pain, she stretched out her talon and clawed his stomach before pushing him to the ground.

Nico and Pedro fought together as one, using their dancing skills to dodge the dark macaw's attacks. As the dark macaws tried to catch them, Nico began to slide through their talons, using his small size to his advantage. Pedro did something similar, except he was flying around the dark macaws to confuse them.

"Stand still you little!" the dark macaw groaned and tried to grab Nico, but missed.

Eventfully, Nico led one dark macaw in one direction while Pedro led another dark macaw to the other. They moved out of the way and tricked the dark macaws into hitting into each other, bumping their heads.

"Take that you dark, mark!" Nico whooped and shared a high five with Pedro.

"You couldn't think of a better rhyme?" Pedro inquired with a slight frown.

Nico shrugged in response. He took off his bottle cap and threw it as a weapon towards a dark macaw that would have attacked one of their own allies.

Arvo bravely fought off against his own people, using his skills as a ranger to fight them off. He did not know how, but he was able to tell the different between the dark macaw rebels and his own people. He used his sword to block their attacks while occasionally firing arrows from his bow.

Nina began to step back as a dark macaw attempted to strike her with his sword, but she dodged each of his attacks. When the dark macaw attempted to stab her, she caught his sword within both of her wings, catching him off guard as he did not expect that to happen. Taking advantage of his distraction, he knocked the sword from his wings before leaping up and performing a flying kick, knocking him back into a few of his own people.

Rico used his own street fighting skills to hold his own against his enemies. When a dark macaw tried to throw hit towards him, he calmly dodged behind him and placed his wings around the dark macaw, holding him still. He continued doing so and allowed a scarlet macaw to knock that same dark macaw unconscious. He chuckled and threw the now injured dark macaw aside. He proceeded to use some of his wrestling skills to tackle a group of dark macaws down.

Yoshi stood proudly as three dark macaws surrounded him, mistaking him an easy target due to his small size.

"Ain't you a little short to be in a battle?" a dark macaw question with a grin.

Yoshi merely smirked in response. As the dark macaws jumped towards him simultaneously, Yoshi leaped into the air and tricked them into hitting each other. While they were dazed, Yoshi landed in between them and spun around with his staff placed out, tripping the trio down. He chuckled and leaped elsewhere.

Felipe stood with his fellow scarlet macaws and began to fight away their enemies. As dark macaws charged towards them, they worked as a team to take them down. Felipe moved behind a dark macaw and kicked him forward, allowing a scarlet macaw to strike down the dark macaw.

Aside from the leaders of the good side, the three clans along with the dark macaw rebels were working together well. A military macaw struck down a dark macaw engaged in a wing to wing combat with a scarlet macaw who was losing so far, saving him. While they were distracted, another dark macaw ran forward with his blade raised above his head. Before he could strike, a ninja appeared from the crowd and kicked him down in mid-air.

The armies continued battle on both sides, but so far, it appeared that the heroes were indeed winning this battle. Despite the well trained dark macaws, they appeared to be no match for the heroes. Lee was beginning to have doubts that his army could actually defeat these birds.

"No! Kill them, you idiots!" Lee yelled as he marched through them.

He blocked a scarlet macaw's attack and threw him into the crowd. A ninja appeared and attempted to stop him, but Lee blocked all of his attacks with ease before delivering a powerful kick at the ninja, knocking him aside. Two military macaws attempted to stop him by grabbing both his wings, only to fail when Lee leaped up and performed a split, kicking them both back.

As Lee pushed his way through the crowd, he was confronted by Blu and Rico who both intended to stop him together. He chuckled and prepared himself for battle. "So this is where it ends? A battle against our greatest foe and my sworn enemy. Blu, Kalûr. It will be a great feeling to kill you both."

"Your rule ends here, Lee!" Blu growled and nodded towards Rico as a cue to attack.

Together, Blu and Rico charged towards Lee, attacking him together. Despite their advantage, however, Lee easily held his own against the two friends. When both of them attempted to grab onto his wings, Lee blocked both of them before leaping up and performing a split kick to knock both of them down.

When Blu collapsed, Rico stood up and continued his attack against Lee, who calmly blocked his attacks using only one wing. Lee delivered a powerful uppercut against Rico, knocking him down onto his back.

Rico groaned as he rubbed his wing against the back of his head. "This dude's been watching The Matrix."

"You are no longer the warrior you once were, Kalûr." Lee responded calmly. "You are weak and merely an illusion of your former self and-"

Before Lee finished mocking Rico, Blu appeared a second time and delivered a strike against Lee's face, stunning him for a brief moment. Blu moved forward to continue his attack, but Lee easily blocked his attack before kicking Blu directly into his stomach, winding him. He grinned and calmly pushed Blu away, but before he could continue his attack, more birds got in his way and he was forced to defend himself against them.

Blu took the chance to move out of the way, but while he was temporally injured, he was unaware of a dark macaw sneaking behind him. Jewell was not too far away, and when she looked towards Blu's direction, she gasped when she saw the danger ahead.

"Blu!" Jewel shrieked and leaped forward to help him.

As Blu recovered, he finally turned around and gasped when a dark macaw lunged forward while armed with a dagger. Blu was unable to defend himself the dark macaw threw his weapon forward, but before the weapon could make impact, someone had moved in front of Blu, taking the hit for him.

Blu moved his wings away from his eyes and gasped. "JEWEL!" he screamed. He swiftly knocked the dark macaw down before catching his mate, gently laying her down upon the ground.

Jewel let out a painful gasp as she fell to the ground with the dagger impaled through her stomach. Blu took the blade out from her stomach before using his wings to apply pressure in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Jewel! Jewel! Look at me!" Blu panicked and attempted to keep her awake. "It's okay! It's okay!"

Jewel however, disagreed. She slowly moved her wing up and placed it upon the side of Blu's face. "Blu...It hurts so much...I feel cold..."

Her eyes were beginning to close and Blu was beginning to lose her. This was the second time she had taken a hit for me and all because he failed to pay attention to his surroundings.

"Jewel...Jewel...Jewel!" Blu shouted and could only watch as her eyes closed with her body going limp and her head falling back. He attempted to shake her awake, but she remained unresponsive. "Jewel! JEWEL! NO!"

Blu shredded tears from his eyes as he cradled his mate's lifeless corpse. He closed his eyes and held his head against her own. "Jewel...I'm so sorry...It's all my fault. It should never have got close to you. You were better off before you met me-"

Before Blu continued his apologies, Jewel's eyes opened wide, followed by a loud gasp. Blu leaned his head back and to his relief, Jewel was alive! But how? How could she have survived being stabbed directly into her stomach?

"Jewel!" Blu cried with relief and held her close. "Oh you're alive! Oh! Jewel!"

"Blu!" Jewel cried with tears of her own and returned the hug. "Blu. I thought."

Blu leaned back for a moment and both blue macaws turned towards Jewel injury where they discovered it had fully healed. Not a scratch remained.

"I don't understand." Blu replied confused. "How?"

"I don't know." Jewel responded while placing a wing around where her previous injury.

As both blue macaws watched in confusion, Arvo appeared from the crowd while fighting off the enemy. "I saw the entire thing. It seems Jewel has some sort of healing ability."

"But how?" Jewel questioned with a curious eyebrow raised. "How is that possible?"

"We'll talk about it once the war is over." Arvo responded as he kicked away a dark macaw. "For now, we have a battle to win."

Without saying another word, Blu helped Jewel stand and the two continued their battle to defend their home. There were too many questions to be answered and now that Jewel seemed immortal, that added onto the stack of questions.

As the battle continued between both sides, Lee watched his army fall and he was unsure what to do. He looked around the area and his eyes caught interested on someone: Nina. He knew that she was Arvo's daughter, or claimed to be his daughter anyway. That did not matter, what mattered was that he knew Arvo and Nina had a close bond. If he was going to be defeated, then he was going to make Arvo suffer.

Without hesitation, he leaped into the air and flew directly towards Nina at great speed. Due to Nina being too occupied defending herself she was completely unaware of the danger ahead. Lee flew directly over Nina and gripped her throat within his talon, pulling her out of the battle field to deal with her in private.

Arvo, who was not too far away, noticed his daughter being pulled away and immediately moved forward to help her. "NINA! NO!" as he tried to find follow, he was blocked by more dark macaws. He would have to take care of them first before he could help Nina.

Blu worked with Jewel to fight back the dark macaws, using their skills. Blu looked up when he saw Lee flying away from the area and with him was Nina clutched in his talon. His eyes widened and he prepared to go after them. "Jewel, Lee has Nina! I'm going after them!"

Without saying another word, Blu took flight and followed Lee to where he was going to. If Lee either harmed Nina or escaped, it would mean chaos and Blu had to stop him before he could do more harm than he had already done.

While Arvo was defending himself from the dark macaws, his eyes caught Blu flying towards the direction Lee had taken Nina towards. While there was no confirmation, Arvo knew he was going after Lee and could only pray for his daughter's safety. "Please Blu, save Nina."

* * *

 **And that brings us to end of this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. The battle has begun and the heroes of the jungle fought together as one to defeat the evil dark macaws. As a surprise, it appears Jewel has a healing ability. How she got this power is a mystery indeed. It is now up to Blu to save Nina and defeat Lee to end this once and for all. Chapter 36 coming soon.**


	36. Chapter 36: confronting Lee

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 36: confronting Lee**

 **We are back ladies and gentlemen chapter 36. Nothing to say in this author's note, other than enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Nightfall had arrived throughout the jungle of Rio, the sky filled with the darkness that protected the light. While the battle between good and evil continued amongst the heart of the jungle, the leader of the dark macaws Lee had escaped from the battle with a prisoner within his grip. He did not intend to escape, but to make Arvo suffer for his actions against him and his army, and what better way to make him pay than to take the life off the one bird he cared about.

Lee reached an average sized area within the jungle not too far from the battle. He flew down and tossed Nina to the ground. She rolled around the ground for a few seconds as Lee landed down beside her.

"You and your father ruined everything!" Lee shouted and kicked Nina back, causing her to roll around yet again.

Nina groaned but immediately recovered. She threw a few hits towards Lee, but was unable to land a single strike on him when he continued to dodge. He blocked her next attack before striking her directly across her face, knocking her back to the ground.

"You and your father are traitors." Lee growled and proceeded to grip her throat and pull Nina onto her talons, forcing her to stand.

Nina groaned in response and placed both of her wings against his talon. Despite the situation, she was not going to give Lee the satisfaction he was seeking. "You are the traitor, Lee. Today is the day your rule ends and our people will be restored to how they should have been a long time ago."

Lee frowned in response. "Don't be so sure. I may be defeated today, but I will make Arvo suffer by taking away the one thing he loves. He will be broken, weak, and killing him will be easy."

As his words came to a conclusion, Lee began to tighten his grip against Nina and lifted her into the air, crushing her throat with all of his might. He watched in satisfaction as Nina clutched her wings against his talon with her talons dangling above the ground. She attempted to get free, but Lee's grip was too strong and he was not easing up on her.

Soon, she began to lose too much oxygen and her eyes began to turn red. A few more seconds went by and her head was beginning to go limp with her eyes beginning to close in the process. Lee continued to choke her, but a familiar voice distracted him from his task.

"LEE!"

Lee turned around to see a familiar blue macaw perched within the tree, waiting to strike. Lee tossed Nina over towards a nearby tree, unsure if he had killed her or merely caused her to pass out. Either way, his attention was not diverted towards Blu. If it were not for this blue macaw, none of this would have happened and his army would have won.

"Blu." Lee hissed and took a few steps forward, standing in the center of the area while he waited for Blu to attack. It was time to finish what they started. "It could end right here. Just me and you."

Blu frowned in response before leaping from the tree and diving directly towards Lee. He performed a flying kick in mid-air and with great speed; he kicked Lee with enough force that he knocked Lee through the air.

The impact of the force was powerful enough that it knocked Lee into a nearby tree. Upon impact, Lee had hit the tree face first and this caused his beak to dislocate out of place. He groaned in agony and clutched his injured beak while Blu stood in the center of the area in a combat pose. Lee placed his talon against his beak and with good force; he snapped his beak back into the correct position.

The two macaws stared towards each other for a few seconds until Lee charged first, screaming out in rage. A second later, Blu did the same and charged towards Lee. Both macaws continued charging until they came into contact with each other and the fight between them began.

As they whacked into each other upon impact, Blu struck Lee across his face with his left wing and proceeded to do the same with his right wing. Lee began to throw three hits of his own, but Blu dodged each time. As he threw the third hit, Blu delivered a weak hit to Lee's torso, but it did not appear to harm him in anyway.

The two attempted to grip each other until Blu slipped his leg through Lee's talon, knocking him down onto his knees. Before Blu could continue his attack, Lee struck Blu's talon, causing him to fall down on his knees also. Now that they were on the same height level, the two began to exchange hits with neither one of them attempting to block or counter the other.

Eventfully, Lee stood up, gripping Blu and forcing him to stand up in the process. He delivered two strikes against Blu's face using the same wing, but when he threw the third hit, Blu moved out of the way and returned a hit of his own. Blu leaped up and delivered one more strike against Lee's face.

The two got into a grapple as both attempted to pull the other down, but failed. When they broke free, Blu threw two hits which Lee blocked with ease before Blu spun around and delivered a kick against Lee's torso, knocking him backwards into another tree.

Lee fell against the tree and whacked his head into it in the process. Now he was mad. He leaped up and spun around three times while advancing towards Blu who moved back to avoid him. When Lee ceased spinning, Lee raised his wing into the air, confusing Blu for a moment. While he was distracted, Lee used his other wing to deliver a powerful uppercut direction against under Blu's beak.

The force from the strike was so powerful that it launched Blu into the air like a ragdoll. He impacted against a tree back first before falling down towards the ground, using one wing and both his talons to brace his fall. He looked up towards Lee with a frown before growling slightly.

Blu leaped forward and performed a front flip in the process before attempting to kick Lee in mid-air. Lee moved out of the way and proceeded to grab Blu from behind, placing one wing around his neck while the other around his torso.

As Blu struggle to escape his grip, he whacked his wing against Lee's face, stunning him just for a couple of seconds that gave him enough time to escape. He gripped Lee's wing and pulled Lee in front of him. As Lee was pulled in front of Blu, he countered-attacked by gripping Blu's wing and flipping him over his shoulder, landing him on his back.

Blu leaped up to continue his attack, but a direct kick from Lee launched him back into air yet again. Blu was knocked against another tree and this time, the impact from the blow had dazed him temporally. He collapsed onto his stomach, weak from the injuries he had sustained so far.

Lee, however, was not finished yet. He marched over towards Blu and gripping the blue macaw's throat within his talon, lifting him half-way up. He grinned and whispered into his ear. "It's not over yet."

Using all of his strength, Lee threw Blu all the way to the other side of the area while the dazed blue macaw lied helpless on his back. Lee launched himself into the air and allowed himself to fall beside Blu, whacking in the torso upon impact. He continued doing so a couple of times before he stood over Blu and leaped a few feet into the air.

Preparing to finish this, Lee intended to slam his talon down against Blu's face. Blu finally snapped out from his dazed state and rolled out of harm's way in the nick of time, missing Lee's talon by inches. Lee slammed his talon into the ground instead, leaving a talon print within the ground.

Blu stood up and clutched his wing against his torso, attempting to gain his strength for a moment. Lee, however, was not easing up on him. As Blu moved forward to escape for a moment, Lee moved behind him and placed both of his wings around Blu's torso and began to perform a bear hug move, attempting to crush Blu.

Blu groaned and struggled to escape Lee's grip, but the dark macaw was not easing up on him. Blu was able to push both of them backwards and knocked Lee into a tree in an attempt to force him to release his grip, but the impact was not strong enough to harm him. Lee continued to crush Blu while he placed both of his wings against Lee's in an attempt to pry them lose, but Lee was not letting go.

Running out of time, Blu raised both his wings, placing them against Lee's face and began to gouge Lee's eyes. The dark macaw cried out in agony and was finally forced to release Blu to nurse his eyes. While Blu had not done any permeant damage, it was enough pain to distract him for a moment.

Taking the opportunity before Lee recovered, Blu whacked Lee twice before spinning around so they were face to face and delivered four powerful strikes against Lee's torso. He gripped Lee's wing and flipping him over his should, landing the dark macaw upon his back.

Preparing to finish this, Blu gripping Lee's right wing within his own and with enough force, he snapped Lee's wing out of position. Lee cried out in agony once more, but despite his injury, he was not prepared to give up. He performed a back flip and positioned himself on top of Blu, pinning him down. He placed his wing good wing against Blu's head while he raised his injured wing and snapped it back into the correct position.

He used that same wing to deliver a knife hand strike directly against Blu's head, knocking him down. Lee raised his wing to hit Blu, but the blue macaw was able to escape by sliding himself from underneath Blu, causing Lee to instead hit the ground.

As both macaws got onto their talons, Blu delivered a spin kick against Lee, causing him to spin around. Blu threw two more spin kicks but Lee dodged both of them and when Blu threw one more kick, Lee caught it within his wings before spinning Blu around in a circle and eventually releasing him, knocking Blu into a large branch.

The impact from hitting the branch had winded Blu and he was unable to descend himself don safety. Instead, he landed upon the ground with a sickening thud while groaning in pain. He attempted to lean up and continue, but he was too weak to continue fighting Lee.

Lee marched towards Bu and gripped his throat, pinning him down to prevent his escape. "It looks like I am about to finish what Nexus could not. Without powers, you have nothing. Now you die."

The dark macaw began to tighten his grip against Blu's throat, slowly choking the blue macaw to death. If this was going to be the end of Blu, then he was going to make every second last. Lee chuckled as he watched Blu's eyes beginning to turn red similar to Nina's moments ago and could not wait until he went limp.

As Lee prepared to finish Blu off by snapping his neck with enough force, he yelled out in agony when a piercing pain had shot against his back. He released Blu's throat and took a few steps backwards. Looking behind him, he could see an arrow had been shot into his back, fatally wounding him.

Lee groaned and turned around to see Jewel and Arvo, who was aiming his bow towards him. Accepting his fate, Lee closed his eyes as Arvo fired one more arrow into Lee's torso to finish him off. Without saying a word, Lee collapsed forward and died upon impact. It was over. Lee was dead and soon the dark macaw army would be defeated.

But it was too early to celebrate yet. Jewel flew over towards Blu who clutched his wing against his throat after almost being choked to death.

"Blu, are you okay!?" Jewel asked while she helped him sit up.

Blu coughed in response while rubbing his throat. "I'll be okay."

Meanwhile, Arvo threw his bow down and ran over towards Nina who had been lying motionless during the entire confrontation. He knelt down beside her and held her up within his wings, attempting to shake her awake. "Nina! Nina, wake up! Nina!"

She was not responding, leaving the worst thoughts racing around Arvo's mind.

Refusing to let her die, Arvo opened her beak and began to breathe oxygen into her, performing beak to beak resuscitation, followed with pumping both of his wings against her chest. He continued repeating the same methods for a couple of moments, but there was still no response.

Beginning to lose hope, Arvo cradled Nina in his wings and began to shred tears while still trying to wake her up, using pleading words this time. "Nina, please wake up. Please. Don't leave me, Nina. I love you. Please...Come back...Nina."

* * *

 _Arvo and his group of rebels were currently returning from a mission to steal supplies from a convoy. Their mission had been a success, but on their way back however, Arvo froze when he thought he heard something coming from one of the trees. At first, Arvo shrugged it off, but when it continued, he flew over to investigate._

 _Arvo traced the source of what sounded like crying to a nearby tree. As he reached that same tree, he looked down and noticed two dark macaw figures lying upon the crowd. "You take care of them. I will go to the tree." Arvo ordered his people who nodded in agreement._

 _He landed in the hollow of that tree and to his surprise; there was a small female dark macaw baby alone in the middle of the nest, crying slightly. Arvo was surprised as to why this baby was alone with no-one taking care of her. However, when he put two and two together, he ran towards the edge of the hollow and looked down where his men were attending to the two dark macaws._

 _One of the rebels looked up and shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Arvo. They're...Gone."_

 _Arvo's expression softened. No doubt that those two dark macaws were the baby's parents, but why had they been killed? Who could have done this? His brother maybe or one of his many people? While too many questions were racing around his mind, he could not leave this bay alone._

 _That's when Arvo made the decision that would change his life forever. He knelt down and gently picked up the baby macaw within his wings, smiling towards her. The young baby appeared terrified of this stranger and whimpered in response._

 _"Hello there, little one." Arvo greeted, but there was a good chance that this baby could not understand him yet._

 _The baby was afraid at first and began to cover her wings against her eyes, but Arvo began to stroke her softly._

 _"Shh. Shh." Arvo soothed when he noticed the fear across the baby's face. "There, there, little one. There is no need to be afraid. I'll take care of you."_

 _The baby macaw lowered her wings down and smiled slightly as she relaxed in this stranger's wings and allowed him to hold her without crying._

 _Arvo held her close as he joined his people into their journey back to the base, now with a new guest._

 _When the dark macaws arrived at their secret base deep within the woods, Arvo took the baby dark macaw to his room where he thought it was best if she stayed here with him. He sat in the center of his nest while he was feeding the dark macaw baby a small strawberry for her to eat._

 _Arvo finished feeding the baby and began to cradle her within his wings, holding her close while doing so. He felt as if he was sharing a close bond to this baby, but he could not explain why. Nevertheless, this baby had nowhere else to go and that's why Arvo vowed to take care of her, but first he needed to give her a name._

 _"I don't think you have a name yet, little one." Arvo told her as she was beginning to fall asleep within his wings. He began to think of a name that sounded like it would suit her perfectly. He smiled after thinking of a name and turned his attention towards her. "I know. I've decided to call you Nina. It sounds like it suits you. Do you like that, Nina?"_

 _The baby dark macaw-now named Nina, smiled in response before closing her eyes fully and drifting off to sleep._

 _While she was sleeping, Arvo slowly pulled her into a hug, holding Nina close as if she was one of his own. He lost his son to his brother now that he had turned evil, but he was not going to make that mistake again. "I promise, Nina, I will never let anyone hurt you. I will protect you with my life, even if that means I have to give up my own. Sleep well, Nina."_

* * *

Arvo shred more tears from his eyes as he cradled Nina who was still unresponsive. Blu and Jewel watched in sadness from nearby. He held her close while continuing to cry tears. "I promised to protect you, Nina. I'm a terrible father. I failed my own son and now I failed you. I'm sorry, Nina...I'm sorry-"

Before Arvo could continue mourning, he leaned up when he began to hear a coughing noise directly in front of him. His eyes widened and his expression changed when Nina's head leaned up with her eyes opening. She was alive! Nina coughed a few more times until she gained enough oxygen to breath properly again.

"Nina!" Arvo gasped and embraced her close. "Oh you're alive! You're okay. You're okay."

Nina too had begun to shred tears of her own as she thought that these are going to be her last moments. "Father. I thought that...That I was going to."

Arvo hugged her in response. "Shh, it's alright, Nina. It's all over now. Everything's going to be okay. We have won, Nina, the war is over and our people will be restored soon. I love you, Nina."

"I love you too, father." Nina said with a smile and leaned her head against her father's chest as he held her close.

Blu and Jewel smiled as they looked on from nearby. They were relieved that Nina had been saved and no more of their friends had died from their enemies. All that was left to do now was to defeat the remaining forces of Lee's army and then the honor of the dark macaws could finally be restored.

* * *

 **That battle is over, ladies and gentlemen. Lee has been defeated and the now the final villain has been beaten. All that remains now is to fix the damage Lee has caused and then to confront the true mastermind.**


	37. Chapter 37: the aftermath of the battle

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 37: the aftermath of the battle**

 **Hello ladies and gentlemen. We are back with chapter 37, but I have an important announcement before we begin. This will be my last story and I mean it this time. I'm getting married in a month's time and therefore, won't have as much time anymore. I'd only be able to write as half as much as I usually do in longer time and I wouldn't be happy with myself for that.**

 **But that does not mean my story line is ending. Saga 3 will be continued by another author. When this story ends, two author's will be maintaining the rights to my stories.**

 **Assassin's Creed Master will maintain the rights to the OC's and help with story ideas.**

 **Blu Razgriz will be writing the stories from now on and they will be published to his profile.**

 **I know that you may miss me, but I would rather my story line continue than come to an end and Blu Razgriz has said that he will try and write in the same writing style as I do. With that being said, here's chapter 37 ladies and gentlemen of FanFiction. Enjoy.**

* * *

Shortly after the defeat of Lee, his army of dark macaws was easily apprehended and the battle was won by the heroes. While half of the dark macaws had perished in battle, the other half surrendered and was taken by to the World of Darkness to face the crimes against the true dark macaws.

There had unfortunately been casualties on the hero's side to. Members of all the clans had perished in battle, but their leaders had assured everyone that they would not be forgotten and their names would be remembered in honor of their sacrifice to save their home.

Now that the war was over, all that was left to do was tie up some loose ends. Outside of the rebel base, the dark macaw rebels were packing their things away and preparing to move out now that they no longer needed this hideout. With their victory, they could now go back home and start over.

While the dark macaws were preparing to leave, Blu and Jewel still had an important question that needed to be answered from Arvo, who promised to explain everything.

As a portal was opened for the dark macaws, Arvo and Nina stayed until everyone one else was through. With them were Blu, Jewel, their four children, Rafael, Eva, their children too, Nico, Pedro and Rico. It was time for them to say goodbye, but this did not mean it was the last time they would see one another.

"My friends, it has been an honor to be with you." Arvo said with a small smile. "I thank each and every one of you for your help. Without you, this war would have gone differently. But before I go, I believe I owe Jewel an explanation to her survival in the battle."

"Yes." Jewel nodded, eager to find out. "Please tell me."

Arvo was unsure where to begin and decided to keep it as short as possible. "When the real Rico was resurrected by Nexus, he was given a short power of his own. In the event he was injured, the power would save him, but to pass it onto someone else would kill him, and that is what he did. He gave his power to you, Jewel when you had died the first time. His power healed you."

Jewel appeared almost satisfied with the answer, but first, there was one more thing she needed to know. "But if the power healed me, why didn't it always take effect? I broke both of my talons and hurt my wing six months ago."

"It appears the power only works when you are near death." Arvo explained as he beckoned for one of his people to hand him something: a small orb. He moved towards Jewel and offered it to her. "If you wish to have this power removed, the orb will take it and return it to you if you please. It is up to you of course."

While Jewel was relieved that this power had saved her before, she would rather get rid of it. "I want to get rid of the power. I don't want to be able to cheat death while my family can't. Please, get rid of it."

Arvo nodded. "Very well. Hold onto the orb and I will begin the process. It will only take a few seconds."

Closing his eyes, Arvo began to concentrate and in a mere few seconds, the power passed through Jewel and transferred into the orb. Arvo smiled and gave the orb back to one of his fellow dark macaws. "There you go. Simple."

Jewel smiled in response. "Thank you."

Now that Jewel was rendered powerless, it was time for Blu to ask a question of his own.

"Arvo, how did I dream of Rico in the first place?" Blu inquired. "How did I have that dream?"

"All of our people possess an influence power within us and when you are around one of us for a while, that influence will begin to have an affect on you too. It will allow you to see visions of the past or present that may serve as a warning." Arvo explained the best he could, but even he did not fully understand how it worked.

With their questions answered, it was time for the dark macaws to leave soon.

"What will you do now?" Blu inquired to Arvo.

Arvo turned towards Nina first, who nodded towards him. He smiled and gave Blu the answer he requested. "Nina and I were speaking to our people, and we have agreed that I will be the new King of the World of Darkness. They trusted me to lead them into a new age. I admit that it's going to be difficult, but I promised my people that I will lead them to safety."

"I think you will be a good leader, Arvo." Jewel agreed with a smile of her own.

"Thank you." Arvo thanked before he turned his attention towards Rico. Now it was his turn to ask a question of his own. "What will you do, Rico? Will you stay here or come with us?"

Rico had been thinking about this after the war was over. He wanted to stay here with his friends, but he felt that he no longer belonged here. He still had to make amends for his people for his crimes as his past self. He sighed and turned towards the others with a direct answer. "I have decided to go back with Arvo. Their world needs rebuilding and as a fellow dark macaw myself, I have to go back and help them rebuild. I may be a clone, but that does not change anything."

Arvo nodded, but while the others respected Rico's decision, they were going to miss him. Too many times he kept appearing and reappearing throughout their lives, but now that they knew he was not the same Rico, they realized that life may not be the same without him. He may be a clone and a former apprentice of the evil dark lord, but to them, he was still the same Rico as before.

"We're going to miss you, Rico." Jewel admitted while she struggled to hold back tears.

"We will meet again, Jewel. I promise." Rico promised with a smile of reassurance.

The time to leave was approaching. Before Rico left, he bid each one of his friends goodbye with friendly gestures. He shared fist bumps with Nico and Pedro, a talon shake from Rafael and Eva, and a hug with Blu, Jewel and their four children.

After Rico was finished bidding them goodbye, Arvo walked forward towards Blu and offered him a talon shake to finish off their goodbyes and to thank them for their help. "Goodbye Blu. Know that you are a friend of the World of Darkness and we will always welcome you to our home."

"Thank you, Arvo." Blu thanked and accepted his talon shake.

With their goodbyes said, it was time for the dark macaws to leave. As the remaining dark macaws transported through the portal, Rico, Arvo and Nina proceeded to follow their people back to their own world. As they reached the portal, Rico turned around and winked towards his friend to remind them that this was not going to be the last time they would see him.

The trio entered the portal and a moment later, it was sealed off, leaving the group of friends on their own. There was a moment of awkward silence until Nico stepped forward.

"What now?" Nico inquired with a shrug.

Jewel had one thing on her mind that Blu had seemed to let slip from her mind. She placed her wing around Blu to get his attention. "Well, Blu and I need to find ourselves a new home unless we wanted to spend the night sleeping under a leaf."

"You guys and gals are always welcome to stay with us if you have trouble finding a home." Nico offered while tripping his bottle cap as a friendly gesture.

"Yeah! It'll be like a sleep over." Pedro agreed. "Besides, we ain't never there half the time anyway."

Blu and Jewel smiled in response.

"Thank you for the offer, guys." Jewel expressed her gratitude and knelt down to plant a small kiss on both of their heads. "That's really sweet."

Nico and Pedro blushed slightly in response.

"Well, Eva and I better get home." Rafael spoke up while he was holding Eva's wing in his good one. "We're feeling a little sore and not like I can exactly fly at the moment."

Blu nodded. "Get well soon, guys."

"We will." Eva assured while she held her free wing against her neck.

As the toucans began to walk home, the blue macaw family proceeded to leave the area to go and find themselves a new home with Nico and Pedro following them. There was not denying that they were going to miss their old home that they shared so many memories in, but who knows? They might like this new home better than the old one.

* * *

It was a lot more difficult than it seemed to find a nice home in the jungle. Not only were most of the tree hollows already occupied, they wanted to find a tree that was within the area of their old home, close to their friends and not too far from the city. Eventfully, they located a new home not too far from where Rafael and Eva lived. It was a nice tree with a good view and it even had a tree full with fruits right beside it.

Blu stepped inside of their new home first and spread out his wings while examine their home. "Well everyone, what do you think?"

"I love it." Jewel answered almost immediately. "It's not the same as our old home, but I think we can settle in here in time."

"We love it to, Dad." Crystal spoke up, speaking for all three of her siblings who all nodded in agreement.

"Excellent." Blu smiled and clasped his wings together. "Now all we need to do is make ourselves a nest and then we can settle in nicely."

"We can help with that." Nico offered and Pedro nodded. "We know the best places to find twigs."

"Thanks guys." Blu thanked.

"No problem-lame-o." Pedro assured. After all, Blu and Jewel had taken a huge part in saving their home and they deserved to rest.

With a job to do, Nico and Pedro flew away to go and fetch some twigs for the blue macaws to help them build a nest. Until they returned, the family of blue macaws sat beside each other and embraced close, enjoying their time together as a family. It had been a while now since they got to enjoy time like this, but with the four villains defeated, their worries were over and now they could live in peace.

* * *

When nighttime had arrived, the family of blue macaws were exhausted that they had fallen asleep almost immediately. Well, the kids did at least, but as for their parents, they were awake for a little longer. Fortunately, Nico and Pedro had managed to find enough twigs for them to build their own nest to sleep in the same day they moved into their new home.

While Jewel sat the center of their nest, she had both of her wings placed around her four children and watched as they quietly slept within her embrace. Blu was sitting behind Jewel and had both of his wings rested around her as he allowed Jewel to rest her head against his chest. The lovebirds sighed as they watched the beautiful sky from within their home while enjoying each other's company. It was quiet until Blu spoke first.

"Jewel?" Blu whispered, careful not to wake up the kids.

"Hmm?" Jewel hummed with a small smile while she continued focusing her eyes outside.

"We did it." Blu smiled. "We beat the four villains. Our home is safe."

While Jewel was relieved that they won, she did not appear to share her mate's enthusiasm. She sighed in response. "Blu, I'm glad that it's over now, but for how long?"

"What do you mean?" Blu questioned, obvious as to what she was referring to.

"We beat these bad guys ever time, and for what? We beat one of them, and then another one just rises." Jewel explained before she sighed yet again. "I'm getting tired of all this. Why do we always have to be the victims of all this? Why can't they just leave us alone?"

Jewel went quiet when Blu placed his wing over her beak, reminding her that their four children were still sleeping.

"Jewel, I know it's hard and don't like it either, but we won." Blu reminded in an attempt to cheer her up. "We've won each time. Even birds with powers that aren't impossible in this world can't beat us. Butch was triple my size, Lee had an army, and we still beat them. Look, I can't promise that everything will be peaceful, but I can promise that I'll protect you and the kids no matter what and if another bad guy tries to stop us, then he better watch out because we'll stop them."

Jewel's expression changed slightly and she raised a small smile after hearing Blu's words of encouragement to lighten the mood. "You're right, Blu. They can't stop us, can they? But what about the person who's been leaving you those notes?"

"If he arrives, then we'll take him together." Blu reassured, confident that they were unbeatable as long as they were together.

"Together." Jewel agreed and moved her head back down against Blu's chest.

Now that Blu had lightened the mood, the two continued to gaze upon the outside. It was going to take some time getting use to their new home, but in time, they would settle in nicely and enjoy this new home. The silence was broken yet again, this time by Jewel.

"Blu. I miss Rico." Jewel admitted. "I miss him so much. Even if he was a dark macaw, he's still my brother and I miss him so much."

"I miss him too, Jewel." Blu agreed and moved one of his wings to stroke the top of her head. "But we can be happy knowing that he's alive and he's with his people. It's not the end, Jewel; we'll see him again in the future."

"I know, Blu, but I just wished things could have been different." Jewel replied, but she accepted that this time, Rico was not gone forever. She had the feeling they would be reunited very soon. "You know, I'm surprised that Rico was a great warrior long ago, especially with his disability."

Blu raised an eyebrow when the term 'disability' was used. "Disability?"

"Yeah. Don't you remember?" Jewel inquired, but Blu shook his head in response. "Rico's half-blind."

"He is?" Blu questioned, slightly surprised at this sudden struck of news.

"That's right. He can't see out of his right eye." Jewel replied with a small smile. "I thought you knew."

"It's news to me, Jewel." Blu replied and moved his free wing back around his beloved.

For a little while longer, Blu and Jewel continued to gaze upon the stars until they got some rest for the night. With the threat over, they could finally get some much needed rest for everything that had happened. Little did they know however that a mysterious cloaked figure was standing on a tree opposite of their own.

* * *

 **That concludes this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. The four villains have been defeated and now only the mysterious mastermind remains, and now we have learned a new little fact about our favorite hawk: he's half-blind. Stay tuned for chapter 38.**


	38. Chapter 38: the mastermind

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 38: the mastermind**

 **Hello ladies and gentlemen. We are back with the next chapter and as you can see by the title, it's the moment that this story has built up to. Time to confront the true mastermind behind all of this. I won't talk anymore in this author's note. Please, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

As the night passed and morning arrived, the family of blue macaws had spent the entire previous day and night inside of their new home.

When morning arrived, Blu and Jewel were the first to awaken from the best sleep they had in a while since all of this started. As their eyes met, they greeted each other with smiles.

"Good morning, beautiful." Blu greeted.

"Good morning, handsome." Jewel returned the feeling.

The lovebirds shared a quick kiss along with a hug. As they leaned out from their nest to fetch some breakfast, Blu's eyes caught a glimpse of something attached to the hollow's wall that was definitely not there before. He jumped up and moved towards the wall of the hollow where there was a note attached to his home.

Someone had come in here while they were sleeping? That's when Blu realized that there was still a fifth villain remaining, the true mastermind behind all this, and the one who had been leaving him these notes. After all, he and Jewel had spoken about it the night before.

Blu snatched the note from where it was pinned and read its contents closely.

 _Congratulations, you have defeated all of the villains. Now it is time for us to meat. If you wish to find me, then please follow the coordinates written below._

Blu crutched up the note within his talon and threw it aside, catching Jewel's attention.

"Blu, what did it say?" Jewel inquired as she approached him from behind.

"The one who has left me all of these notes. They want to meet me." Blu answered while he put on his determined expression, preparing to finish what had been started from the beginning. He turned around and placed his wings upon Jewel's side. "Jewel, it's time for me to go and finish this."

"Let me come with you." Jewel offered, unwilling to allow Blu to fall into what could possibly be a trap. "It might be a trap."

"What about the kids?" Blu reminded, peaking over her shoulder where he could see his four children were still sleeping.

"We'll get Nico and Pedro to watch them while we're gone." Jewel suggested and Blu nodded in agreement.

"Alright." Blu agreed. "We'll have breakfast and get going. We have to make haste to get there soon."

* * *

After eating breakfast, Blu and Jewel set course towards the coordinates that were left for them at them at the bottom of the note. First they stopped by Nico and Pedro's tree who were luckily home to drop off their children. While the kids were capable of taking care of themselves, after recent events, they were unwilling to leave them alone without adult supervision.

The coordinates left for them were not too far than the blue macaws had thought, but it was still quite a distance from their new home, located in a darker area of the jungle. Just as they were beginning to reach the exact location, Blu stopped both of them in mid-air to explain his back-up plan.

"Jewel, listen. I'm going to need you to hide." Blu requested.

Jewel raised an eyebrow in response. She came alone with him just to hide? "Why?"

"You mentioned that there was a chance it could be a trap. If possible, I need you to hide and watch me carefully. If there's trouble, you can swoop in and help." Blu explained his plan and escorted Jewel down to a nearby tree that was close to the coordinates. When they were perched on a branch, Blu placed both his wings upon her shoulders. "Jewel, please don't argue. It's for the best."

Jewel sighed in response, knowing that what Blu said made sense if this turned out to be a trap. She leaned forward and pecked the side of his beak. "Be safe, Blu."

"I will." Blu assured and returned a peck of his own. "Now go hide. If I'm in trouble, then you'll know when to help me."

To hide from plain sight, Jewel made herself hidden within the trees while she still had a view to the ground below. Once she was secure, Blu proceeded to descend down towards the ground. Once he landed, all he needed to do now was wait patiently for the mysterious person to arrive.

As a moment past, Blu was beginning to think that either he got the wrong location or the mysterious figure had not arrived, but his thoughts were broken when a cloud of smoke appeared in front of him. A few seconds later, the smoke dispersed and standing in front of him was the figure of a bird wearing a black cloak as a disguise.

Blu was unable to see who was under the cloak, but one thing was for certain that he was definitely a bird of a kind. He prepared himself for combat, expecting one final battle against one more villain.

"You came." the mysterious bird greeted in a deep voice.

"I came." Blu responded and prepared himself for battle. "Who are you? What do you want? How do you know that I was going to face four villains?!"

The mysterious figure remained silent for a moment before moving his wings towards his face. "I suppose that there is no need in hiding in the shadows anymore." at the end of his statement, he removed his hood from over his face and proceeded to drop down his entire cloak, revealing himself.

With his cloak removed, Blu could now see who he was dealing with, but to his horror, the mysterious figure was a dark macaw, but not just a dark macaw. He looked similar to Lee! The different between them was not their facial appearance was slightly different. there was a scar going down the right side of his face and he was wearing two leg braces around his talons for walking support.

But this did not still answer who he was.

"Who are you?" Blu inquired a second time, now in a calmer tone.

"I am Xan; one of the four elite guards and I was master of the axe." the mysterious figure-now introduced as Xan-answered.

This was slightly surprising to Blu after Arvo had informed him the story of Nexus' elite guards. The four elite guards had fought each other over the role of leader with Lee being victorious, but from Arvo's knowledge, the other elite guards had been killed. It appears that one of them had survived.

"But you're dead." Blu responded, pointing his wingtip towards him. "Arvo told me you had died in battle against Lee and the other elite guards."

Xan chuckled slightly in response before he felt pain within both of his injured talons. He groaned slightly and was forced to sit himself down upon a log positioned in the area. Once he was settled, he began to explain his survival. "Yes, we fought to the death. After Lee, the master of the sword had killed Cartu, the master of the dagger and Vath, the master of the spear, only he and I remained. We fought to the death, but while I was stronger, he was faster and he used that to his advantage. He cut open the side of my face, damaged my wing and broke both of my talons. Rather than kill me, however, he left me to suffer in the middle of the woods. I was injured, but summoning my training, I survived and made it to a nearby village where I was taken in by the locals who did not appear to recognize me. They healed me the best they could, but there was no hope for my talons. I need these leg braces to walk now and these limit my movements. I am no longer a warrior...Now I take it that you have questions for me? Very well, ask away."

There were a lot of questions to be asked and answered, no doubt. When Xan was looking away, Blu quickly placed out his wing towards the trees, beckoning for Jewel to remain where she was for now.

Blu placed his wing back to his side and began to ask his questions. "You were the one leaving the notes at my home. How did you know that four villains were going to attack me?"

Xan sighed in placed his wings together. "After the defeat of Nexus and my injuries sustained from Lee, I escaped to Rio in hopes of defeating you in revenge for my King's death. I remained in the shadows, studying your strengths and weaknesses in hopes of defeating you. I first found Max in a prison within the amazon. He talked about destroying the jungle so I helped him escape when the time as right. I waited six months as I knew that by that time, you would be weaker from lack of training and it was the right time before Lee would strike. When I saw you had defeated Max, I knew that you would seek help at the Red Dragon clan which is why I helped free Amanda from her restraints. I could have done it while you were in the early stages of your training, but I had to wait for the right moment."

"The right moment for what?" Blu questioned with an eyebrow raised.

"Steiner, of course. I was aware that Steiner was working with Lee and that the two of them planned to destroy your home in a deal. I released Amanda before they attacked when the time was right and you defeated her before Steiner was ready to kidnap you and your mate. From there, all I needed to do was wait and see if you could defeat Steiner and then Lee." Xan concluded his plan. He smiled lightly and pressed his wings together. "It was a very well put-together plan. The four villains made an interesting challenge. I needed a name for my plan. I thought the name "Zealots" sounded suitable for the four villains. That was how I knew four villains would attack you."

This cleared up a lot of things. Blu was relieved that he got the answers he sought, but now he was angry that Xan was responsible for these events.

"You!" Blu growled and pointing a judging wingtip. "You started all of this!"

"I admit to Max and Amanda, but Steiner and Lee, I had nothing to do with it." Xan responded calmly. No doubt that Blu was preparing to exact his anger against him, but rather than defend himself, Xan accepted his fate. "You have proven that you are an undefeatable macaw. You have won and I praise you for that. Unlike my fellow brethren, I accept my defeat. Very well."

Xan raised his wing where a small cloud appeared just for a second before his axe appeared within his wing. He tossed it towards Blu that landed in front of him.

Blu appeared confused and picked up the axe within both of his wings. "I don't understand."

"You won. I have no reason to fight you." Xan explained and stood up from where he was seated. "I accept my fate. Kill me and finish all of this."

Blu was surprised as he expected for Xan to try and kill him like the others, but this was certainly different. A dark macaw accepting his own defeated? While Blu was surprised, he refused to do what Xan had ordered. He slammed the axe into the ground. "No. I am not going to kill you, Xan. You have been beaten and that's good enough for me."

Xan too, had appeared surprised for a moment, but nevertheless, he accepted his decision. Unlike most dark macaws, he was not exactly evil. He may have been serving Nexus but only because he was unaware of the side he was on. He believed in honor like Arvo did. He bowed his head respectfully towards Blu. "You will spare me? If you let me live, what will you do with me now?"

Blu was unsure what to answer with. Xan was a villain, yes, and had caused half of the events that had occurred these past couple of weeks, but he was weak and in his condition, he could not cause any harm to anyone. "Xan. I am going to offer you a choice. I am giving you a chance of redemption. I want you to return to the World of Darkness. Lee's gone now and Arvo will be crowned king. They're starting over and restoring the true honor to their world. You can be locked away in a prison cell for a long time, or you can go back to your home and help them rebuild their home."

Xan took a few steps forward despite his injured talons and moved towards his axe, standing only a few feet away from the blue macaw. He pulled out his axe from the ground and placed it in front of him before bowing his head towards Blu in respect and agreement. "As you wish. I will return home and help Arvo rebuild, but do you really think they will accept me?"

"Arvo will not hold a grudge against you. He will forgive if you help." Blu assured the dark macaw.

Xan nodded and proceeded to go home where he belonged and help restore the true honor of his people. Without saying another word, he closed his eyes and used his appears to bring a cloud of smoke around him that served as a method to teleport.

The smoke cleared and Xan was no longer present, along with his cloak that had been on the ground during their meeting. Blu hoped that Xan would stay true to his word and help his people, but he had the feeling that everything was going to okay for the World of Darkness.

While Blu looked towards the beautiful morning sky, Jewel appeared beside him without saying a word. She too looked up as they gazed upon the sky, enjoying its beauty.

"Do you think he will help Arvo like he promised?" Jewel inquired. She had been listening to every single word that had been exchanged between Blu and Xan.

"I have the feeling that Xan will stay true to his word, Jewel." Blu assured with a small smile. "Besides, if he tries anything, Xan better watch out. We will stop him, no matter the odds."

Jewel couldn't agree more and placed her wing around Blu as they looked away from the sky and into each other's eyes. "Blu, let's go home."

Home. That was the place Blu never be more relieved to see. The blue macaw lovebirds proceeded to take slight into the sky and set course back towards their home, intending to continue their life as normal.

It was over now. With three villains imprisoned, one dead, and the mastermind going to make amends, the war was finally over. Blu and Jewel could continue to live their peaceful life that they were forced to put on hold.

These events may be difficult to forget, but in time, they would move on forward with their lives and put the past fully behind them.

 _The tops of crags and cliffs, the air is thin_ _  
 _So we'll find a mountain path on down the hill_  
 _Meet me where the snow melt flows_  
 _It is there, my dear, where we will begin again_  
 _Skipping stones, braiding hair_  
 _Last year's antlers mark the trail__

 _Take us back, oh, take us back_ _  
 _Oh, take us, take us back, Take us back, oh, take us back, oh, take us, take us back__

 _I've a friend who lives out by the river's mouth_ _  
 _He knows the fiddles cry is an old sound_  
 _A lonesome of creeks and moans of empty houses_  
 _Are songs like fallen rain_  
 _Windblown buildings, muddy ground_  
 _The strength of water can sink a man__

 _Take us back, oh, take us back_ _  
 _Oh, take us, take us back, Take us back, oh, take us back, oh, take us, take us back__

 _When the higher hills have turned blue_ _  
 _And the waves are lapping where the children grew_  
 _All that we have known will be an echo_  
 _Of days when love was true_  
 _Muted voices just beyond_  
 _The silent surface of what has gone__

* * *

 **That concludes this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. The mastermind has been revealed to be Xan; one of Nexus' elite guards. Despite taking part in half the events that have occurred, Blu has gave him the chance for redemption. The battle against the Zealots is now over. The final chapter will be coming soon, ladies and gentlemen. Stay tuned until then.**


	39. Chapter 39: saga 2 conclusion

**Rise of the Zealots**

 **Rebels of the Darkness**

 **Chapter 39: saga 2 conclusion**

 **Hello ladies and gentlemen of FanFiction and Rio archive. We have reached the final chapter of Rise of the Zealots after three long months. It's kind of ironic really. This story was published on the 20th and ended on the 20th. Now as I said before, saga 3 will be continued on Blu Razgriz's profile. I can't say when he will publish for them certain, but I'm sure it won't take a long time and he does have the help of Assassin's Creed Master who now maintains all the rights.**

 **Now I will still be around in case anyone wants to message me, but I won't have as much time as I use to.**

 **I hope everyone enjoyed my second story. I wasn't sure about doing a sequel saga because I didn't believe I could write better than Darkness Reborn, but it seems I got all of your support and I do appreciate that, ladies and gentlemen. Without furthermore, enjoy the epilogue.**

* * *

It was finally over. The four villains, along with the true mastermind who turned out to be one of Nexus' former elite guards were now defeated. Three of them were locked away, one of them was dead, and the true mastermind had gone back to his home to make amends for his past mistakes.

With nothing to worry about anymore, the wildlife of the jungle were ready to celebrate their victory. Everyone gathered outside of Nico and Pedro's club to celebrate. When the crowd settled, Nico and Pedro emerged from the inside of the club and were greeted with cheers.

The duo waved in response before they decided to make an important announcement, one they felt needed to be said.

"Alright, alright, _estabeleça-se, estabeleça-se_. (settle down, settle down.)" Nico called to the ground with his wings placed out.

The crowd fell silent in a matter of seconds.

"Now before we begin our celebration, we should all remember than none of us would be here now if it weren't for those who were brave to defend our home, defend all of us." Nico continued and beckoned for someone to move the spotlight towards his friends. "Now most of us played a role, but we have to remember that if it weren't for the bird responsible for encouraging all of us to fight, then we might have lost."

Pedro stepped forward, jumping into the air with his wing pointed towards someone in the crowd. "Give a big-old shout out to Blu and Jewel!"

The crowd cheered and applauded to the blue macaws who waved in response with smiles. Their four children began to wave too to thank the crowd as well.

"Now let's get this party started!" Pedro whooped and flew to the crowd below, high-fiving his fellow party lovers. "Where my birds at?!"

The rhythm of the music began to build up slowly and the crowd fell silent. Nico took the lead first and took off his bottle-cap, holding it against his chest with his eyes closed and head lowered.

Nico:

 _Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep_  
 _Dreaming about the things that we could be_  
 _But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard_  
 _Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars_

 _Yeah, we'll be counting stars_

As the opening lyrics came to an end, the rhythm of the music began to build up to a fast beat. The crowd took this as a cue to begin dancing. Blu and Jewel were pulled into the crowd by their children to celebrate their victory together as a family.

Nico slid down a tree and landed upon his talons with Pedro following closely as they began to dance.

Nico:

 _I see this life like a swinging vine_  
 _Swing my heart across the line_

Pedro:

 _In my face is flashing signs_  
 _Seek it out and ye shall find_

The family of blue macaws began to their own unique dancing style while staying together as a family. Blu casually swung his wings around together, Jewel spread her wings to the music, Rey began to perform the worm move, Azul did the robot while Crystal and Jessica hopped around while dancing similar to their mother.

Nico:

 _Old but I'm not that old_  
 _Young but I'm not that bold_  
 _And I don't think the world is sold_  
 _I'm just doing what we're told_

Blu continued to dance solo for a while until he was pulled away unexpectedly, causing him to lose his footing and almost collapsed. Fortunately, Jewel caught him within her wings and held him close. The blue macaws smiled as they moved their faces close to each other until their faces beaks were touching.

Pedro:

 _And I-I-I-I feel something so right by doing the wrong thing_  
 _And I-I-I-I feel something so wrong by doing the right thing_

 _I could lie, couldn't I, couldn't I?_  
 _Everything that kills me makes me feel alive._

By now, Blu and Jewel were dancing together as a duet, holding each other's wing while placing their free one around the other's back. Jewel laughed in delight as Blu twirled her around and caught her as she fell down before lifting her back up.

Nico and Pedro:

 _Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep_  
 _Dreaming about the things that we could be_  
 _But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard_  
 _Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars_

 _Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep_  
 _Dreaming about the things that we could be_  
 _But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard_  
 _Said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars_

 _Ye-e-yeah_

While they were dancing, Blu looked over Jewel's shoulder where he could see a group of birds were sitting down nearby while talking to one another. They may appear like ordinary birds, but in Blu's imagination, he could see the friends he came to know and love. In his mind, he could see the real Rico, Lenny, the Angelus, Sapphire, Joe, David, and for the first time ever, he could see his parents. He may have only remembered them as a baby, but Blu had an excellent memory and after remembering who his parents were, he got to know his lost parents a lot better. Blu had the feeling that they were watching over him right now.

 _Nico:_

I feel her love  
And I feel it burn down this river every time  
Hope is our four-letter word, make that money watch it burn

 _Pedro:_

Old but, I'm not that old  
Young, but I'm not that bold  
And I don't think the world is sold  
I'm just doing what we're told

While Blu and Jewel were dancing, they began to talk about their plans for the future. After everything that had occurred, all they wanted as to get away for a while and have some peace and quiet to relax.

Nico:

 _And I-I-I-I feel something so wrong by doing the right thing_  
 _I could lie, couldn't I, couldn't I?_  
 _Everything that drowns me makes me wanna fly_

"So you feel like going on vacation with the kids for a little while?" Blu offered as he twirled her around in a circle.

"Well that depends." Jewel responded while curious as to where they could go. "Where do you have in mind?"

Nico and Pedro:

 _Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep_  
 _Dreaming about the things that we could be_  
 _But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard_  
 _Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars_

Blu had thought about his choice of a vacation for a while now and while he had doubts, he felt he could get through it alright. After all, his family was with him and he would protect them no matter what. "How do you feel about a trip to the amazon?"

Jewel was certainly surprised since Blu use to have fears of going deep into the amazon. Nevertheless, she did not disagree. "Really? The amazon?"

"That's right." Blu confirmed with a nod. "What do you say?"

Nico and Pedro:

 _Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep_  
 _Dreaming about the things that we could be_  
 _But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard_  
 _Said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars_

"I'd like that." Jewel smiled and leaned over to peck Blu at the side of his beak. "You sure you can handle it though? We'll be far away from the city, there's a lot of creepy crawlies."

"Are you kidding?" Blu scoffed with a smile. "I am Mr. Amazon. That's me. No creepy crawly can stop me!"

To prove her point, Jewel gestured her wing behind Blu as a little prank. "Blu, there's a spider on your back."

Blu immediately panicked and moved out from Jewel's grip and began to run around in circles while searching himself. "Where!? Where!?"

Jewel laughed in response before holding her lovehawk still and slowly taking his wings a second time. Once Blu realized that she tricked him, he laughed too and they began their dance a second time.

Nico and Pedro:

 _Oh, take that money watch it burn_  
 _Sing in the river the lessons I learned_  
 _Take that money watch it burn_  
 _Sing in the river the lessons I learned_

 _Take that money watch it burn_  
 _Sing in the river the lessons I learned_  
 _Take that money watch it burn_  
 _Sing in the river the lessons I learned_

"You're my one and only, Jewel." Blu said with a smile as he held his loved one close.

"You're my one of a kind, Blu." Jewel agreed with a smile of her own and closed her eyes, cherishing every moment she had within her mate's embrace.

Nico:

 _Everything that kills me makes me feel alive_

Nico and Pedro:

 _Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep_  
 _Dreaming about the things that we could be_  
 _But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard_  
 _Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars_

 _Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep_  
 _Dreaming about the things that we could be_  
 _But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard_  
 _Said no more counting dollars, we'll be-we'll be counting stars_

As the lyrics were beginning to come to a close, the entire crowd joined in on the music as Nico and Pedro flew around the sky. While the crowd of the wildlife danced separately, the blue macaws continued to dance as a duet with their four children dancing beside them.

 _Take that money watch it burn_  
 _Sing in the river the lessons I learned_  
 _Take that money watch it burn_  
 _Sing in the river the lessons I learned_

 _Take that money watch it burn_  
 _Sing in the river the lessons I learned_  
 _Take that money watch it burn_  
 _Sing in the river the lessons I learned_

The lyrics came to a close with the entire crowd cheering for both of their performers and to themselves. As the celebration continued, Nico and Pedro appeared out of nowhere, looking towards the audience.

"Thanks for reading, everyone." Nico thanked while lifting his bottle-cap as a friendly gesture.

"Wait, this the end?" Pedro questioned.

"Yep." Nico nodded.

The two best friends waved to the audience while bidding them farewell for now. "Goodbye everyone!"

* * *

A couple of weeks had passed after the events of the four villains and the true mastermind and now things were beginning to look up for the heroes of the wildlife. Everything was coming together nicely and things were beginning to go well.

The four villains were now defeated and were no longer a threat to anyone. While Max and Steiner would remain locked up for now, Amanda would hopefully be given another chance one day to make amends with her clan. Lee's body had been taken back to the World of Darkness to be buried where no-one would know.

Within the World of Darkness, Arvo had been crowned king by his people and now order had been restored to his world. Nina had been crowned as a princess too while Rico had been assigned as Arvo's personal bodyguard, swearing an oath to protect him and their people no matter what. Xan kept his promise to Blu and returned back to the World of Darkness to help them rebuild and make amends for his past crimes to which Arvo gave him a chance to help and so far, he as following that second chance.

Yoshi and the Red Dragon clan rebuilt their temple and now their order had been restored. While it was going to take him for everyone to recover from the attacks of their home, Yoshi would not let his students down and would take care of them no matter what.

The military macaws were now led by Raxos who had been promoted to captain and swore he would take care of the army no matter what. It is what Lenny would have wanted and Raxos intended to uphold his promise.

Rafael and Eva had recovered from their injuries inflicted onto them by the dark macaws and they were now back home with their eighteen children. Nico and Pedro continued to run their club within the jungle, welcoming anyone who would wish to join them to celebrate with the samba.

And as for the blue macaws Blu and Jewel, they had taken a two-week vacation to the amazon with their four children and enjoyed their time away as a family. When they returned from the amazon and to their home, Blu and Jewel had some exciting news.

Jewel was pregnant again with three eggs.

Blu couldn't be happier to have more children as it would be only a matter of time before Rey, Azul, Crystal and Jessica left the nest. Jewel had the feeling that their new children were going to be one boy and two girls, and that's when they agreed to name them Tiago, Bia and Carla, just like the three children they had when they were locked into an imaginative world. They would be perfect names as long as Jewel's theory turned out to be correct.

But what now? How could they family of blue macaws continue to go on when their lives were practically always in danger now. Any moment, some bird could arrive with the intention of hurting them and then history would repeat itself again.

Whatever adventures they might face in the future, Blu and Jewel were prepared to take on any bird who intended to hurt them, no matter how difficult it may be.

As long as they shared the love they have, their bond would always be strong and no-one could stop them no matter what. This was the end of their story for now, but Blu and Jewel had the feeling their story did not end here just yet. Would it ever truly be over or was this just the beginning?

* * *

 **The end. Thanks for reading Rise of the Zealots, ladies and gentlemen. Remember to keep working hard and archive your dreams if you're looking to become a writer. With this final author's note, Ricardo the Black Hawk signing off.**


End file.
